Department for Transport

High Speed Two: Buckinghamshire

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the necessity of commencing planned works in preparation for High Speed 2 around Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire, including the clearance of 500 acres of land, in advance of Notice to Proceed.

Paul Maynard: Notice to Proceed is the formal contractual process whereby HS2 Ltd will authorise its main works civils contractors to move from the design, development and enabling works stage, into full construction. Government authorisation is required before Notice-to-Proceed takes place. The enabling works that are taking place now, including those at Steeple Claydon, are necessary to enable the construction of HS2 to proceed in accordance with the programme, following Notice to Proceed. The Prime Minister has also made clear that the independent review of HS2, which is currently underway, should not unnecessarily delay progress with the project should the Government decide to continue with it.

Roads: Accidents

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Reported road casualties Great Britain, main results: 2018, published on 25 July 2019, what recent steps he has taken to decrease the number of people killed on the roads.

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to Reported road casualties Great Britain, main results: 2018, published on 25 July 2019, what recent steps he has taken to decrease the number of people seriously injured on the roads.

George Freeman: The Government is committed to improving the safety of all road users. Reducing the numbers of those needlessly killed and injured on our roads is a key priority for the Department. Our recent publication of the Road Safety Statement – ‘A Lifetime of Road Safety’ describes in some detail the Department’s intention to undertake a set of actions in the coming years aimed at improving road safety. For example, one of those actions is for the Department to establish a rural roads working group to share experience on improving rural road safety and to work together to tackle the key issues. The effectiveness of these measures will be kept under review.The Road Safety Statement can be viewed at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-safety-statement-2019-a-lifetime-of-road-safety

Air Passenger Duty

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the air passenger contribution charge for ATOL protection will increase as a result of the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Paul Maynard: The ATOL Protection Contribution is set at £2.50 and is a per passenger charge payable by ATOL holders. It is set by the CAA after consultation with and approval from the Secretary of State. Its level is kept under constant review, to ensure sufficient available liquidity is maintained in the fund, and will continue to be reviewed as the Thomas Cook failure is dealt with.

Thomas Cook: Insolvency

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the Air Travel Trust Fund and associates insurance and reinsurance arrangements will be adequate to cover (a) ATOL and (b) non-ATOL liabilities incurred by the Civil Aviation Authority as a result of the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Paul Maynard: The final costs of the repatriation are not yet confirmed. The majority of Thomas Cook passengers are ATOL protected. The Air Travel Trust Fund (ATTF) provides cover for Thomas Cook’s ATOL passengers and their share of the repatriation will be recovered from the ATTF. On current estimates, we believe the ATTF will be able to cover its share. The costs of repatriating Non-ATOL passengers will be covered by the Government. The Government is seeking to minimise the impact on taxpayers by recovering costs where appropriate through credit card companies, travel insurance and other providers of ATOL cover for Thomas Cook’s passengers.

Air Travel Trust Fund

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the Air Travel Trust Fund to be restored to a sufficient level to cover future collapses following the collapse of Thomas Cook.

Paul Maynard: The ATOL Protection Contribution is set by the CAA after consultation with and approval from the Secretary of State. Its level is kept under constant review, to ensure sufficient available liquidity is maintained in the fund, and will continue to be reviewed as the Thomas Cook failure and associated forward bookings are dealt with.

Monarch Airlines: Insolvency

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost was of repatriating non-ATOL passengers related to the collapse of Monarch Airlines.

Paul Maynard: The Civil Aviation Authority 17/18 annual report sets out that the total cost of the Monarch Airlines repatriation activities amounted to £52.5 million. Of this, £9.5m was paid by the Air Travel Trust Fund which covered the costs of repatriating Monarch Group ATOL protected passengers. The total cost of all other passengers was assessed as £43.0m. Since Monarch’s collapse, government has sought to recover the costs of the operation from several third parties including the finance and tourism sectors. I refer to the Written Ministerial Statement made by the Secretary of State on 9 May 2019, which reported that the final cost to the taxpayer from the Monarch repatriation had been assessed to be £40.5m. This previously stated estimate included an expected contribution from Thomas Cook which, following their collapse, the government no longer expects to receive. The latest estimate of the cost to the taxpayer of repatriating non-ATOL passengers is £40.7m. A final position on cost recoveries cannot be known until the completion of the Monarch administration.

Freight

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what timeframe is in place for the award of contracts under the procurement framework for Brexit freight capacity after 31 October 2019 published by his Department on 20 September 2019.

Chris Heaton-Harris: My Department remains on track to secure freight capacity for use after 31 October. This follows the announcement on Friday 20 September that my Department has successfully procured the Freight Capacity Framework, and launched the mini-competitions to provide freight capacity as part of EU Exit preparedness.

Aviation: Exhaust Emissions

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to study published by the International Council on Clean Transportation in September 2019, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies conclusion that the UK is responsible for four per cent of global aviation CO2 emissions; and if he will make a statement.

George Freeman: The 4% figure is based on data from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and allocates emissions to the UK based on all flights departing from the UK. However, there is no international agreement on how to allocate these highly mobile emissions to countries. The UK’s share of international aviation emissions is expected to decrease in the future given the growth of the aviation sector in countries like Brazil, India, China and the USA. That is why the Government recognises that international action takes priority given the global nature of the sector and climate change. International aviation emissions are a global problem that require a global solution. It is vital that we find an answer that does not simply displace emissions elsewhere across the globe. The Future Flight Challenge will bring together those across aviation, aerospace and wider to support exciting new technologies that will turbo-charge the adoption of innovative aircraft, such as flying urban taxis, electric passenger planes and even freight-carrying drones. As announced by the Prime Minister in August, the government is investing up to £125 million through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, which will be supported by industry co-investment of up to £175 million. The Challenge will initially focus on smaller aircraft and drones to ensure the suitability of the new technologies before development them for larger passenger aircraft. The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) Programme supports mid stage R&D projects that deliver the UK’s Aerospace Technology Strategy, while boosting technology spend in the sector and securing manufacturing jobs around the UK. Funding is focused on key technologies to make aircraft quieter, more environmentally friendly and cheaper to manufacture and operate. BEIS is investing £1.95 billion in aerospace R&D from 2013 to 2026, which is matched by industry bringing total R&D investment to £3.9 billion. In addition, the Committee on Climate Change provided the Government with aviation specific advice on 24 September 2019. We are carefully considering this advice and its implications for Government policy and we will shortly publish a consultation on aviation and climate change.

Freight: Contracts

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the competition for contracts under the Freight Capacity Framework Agreement will be completed and the winning bidders announced.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which (a) ports, (b) airports and (c) rail freight terminals could provide additional freight capacity under the Freight Capacity Framework Agreement.

Chris Heaton-Harris: On Friday 20 September the Department announced the operators who had been successful in applying to join the Freight Capacity framework, and also launched two Call Off mini-competitions to provide capacity for 31 October. We intend to award Call Off contracts to successful bidders by 12 October. It will be for suppliers on the framework to set out in their bids the ports, airports and rail terminals that they intend to use to meet the government’s capacity requirements. To support the flow of vital Category 1 goods, the Call Off mini-competitions did not include those ports and terminals that posed an unacceptable risk of disruption to the flow of critical ‘category 1’ goods, including medicines.

ATOL

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much was paid into the Civil Aviation Authority administered ATOL scheme by UK airlines in (a) 2016, (b) 2017 and (c) 2018.

Paul Maynard: Airlines do not pay into the Air Travel Trust Fund. The ATT is principally funded by ATOL Protection Contributions (APC). The Civil Aviation (Contributions to the Air Travel Trust) Regulations 2007 enable the ATT to collect APCs from ATOL Holders for each person who books air travel covered by an ATOL. The Air Travel Trust Fund accounts are publicly available online.

Buses: Tyres

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many public service vehicles inspected by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency were identified as having tyres that exceed the 10-year age limit in the last 12 months.

George Freeman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) conducts inspections under: (1) roadside enforcement checks, and (2) statutory annual inspections. During roadside enforcement checks, from December 2018 when the test for tyre age commenced, the DVSA identified 19 public service vehicles with tyres that exceeded the 10-year age limit. When carrying out statutory annual inspections, the DVSA identified 40 instances of public service vehicles with tyres that have exceeded the 10-year age limit, from October 2018 to September 2019.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Unpaid Work

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if she will make it her Department's policy to centrally record the number of workers underpaid through work trials.

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the Government guidance, Calculating the Minimum Wage, if she will make it her Department's policy to review and update the guidance on unpaid work trials.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is committed to ensuring that all employers pay their workers correctly. We have increased the annual budget for National Minimum Wage (NMW) compliance and enforcement to £27.4m; more than doubling the level of resources since 2015/16.HMRC NMW enforcement data records the reasons for employers’ failure to pay the correct minimum wage; this includes the broader category of unpaid working time. No estimate has been made of the number of people who have undertaken unpaid work trials in 2018-19.“Calculating the Minimum Wage” guidance is kept under review and updates are published as required to ensure that employers are aware of their obligations and are able to comply with minimum wage legislation. Guidance relating to work trials was most recently updated in December.

Plastics: Waste

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much of the Plastics and Waste Investment Fund has been allocated to date; and which programmes have received money from that fund.

Chris Skidmore: This Government is building a globally competitive sustainable plastics industry through research and innovation. We have already allocated 95% of the funding available through the £20m Plastics Research and Innovation Fund. This includes £8m on academic research, £6m on collaborative R&D, £3m on an Investor Partnership with Sky Ocean Ventures and almost £2m on a Circular Plastics flagship programme with WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Plan). WRAP is also administering a number of grant opportunities on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. As confirmed in July, BEIS will also provide up to £60 million, bolstered by an expected £149m investment from the private sector, to establish the UK as the world’s leading innovator in smart sustainable plastic packaging, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Business: Disclosure of Information

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans she has to encourage companies operating in the UK to provide public and transparent lists of sites in other countries that manufacture their products.

Kelly Tolhurst: I welcome the efforts of UK businesses to communicate to consumers and others here about the sourcing of their products, where these originate and the conditions in which they are produced. For example, the retail sector recognises it has a responsibility on these issues and it is pioneering responsible sourcing practices.The Government encourages all companies to consider what more they can do to ensure the products we buy are sourced sustainably and ethically, respecting the environment and according to decent labour practices.

Business

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent meetings (a) Ministers and (b) Officials in her Department have had with businesses in the (i) automotive (ii) pharmaceutical (iii) retail and food sector businesses about the impact of leaving the EU without a deal on their businesses; and if she will make a statement.

Kelly Tolhurst: Ministers and officials have regular engagement with a large number of businesses across all sectors, including from the automotive, pharmaceutical and retail and food sectors, to ensure they are prepared for the UK leaving the EU on the 31st October.Ministers have hosted a regular series of roundtables both in Westminster and around the UK in recent months, where they have had the chance to speak to and hear directly from a wide range of businesses both large and small.In order to help business prepare for exiting the EU on 31 October, the Government have come together to deliver a new series of 'One HMG' events, starting from Monday 16 September to 18 October. These roadshows will bring together expertise from across departments including BEIS, the Home Office, HMRC, DIT, DEFRA and DCMS, and combine interactive support and in-depth advice sessions to help business from all sectors and of all sizes get ready for Brexit. ​In addition to this, on 11th September, officials held an EU Exit Readiness forum with over 250 companies participating many of which were retailers.A £10m Business Readiness Fund for business organisations and trade associations will support businesses in preparing for a ‘No Deal’ Brexit ahead of 31 October 2019.

Small Businesses

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to support small business growth in (a) London and (b) England.

Kelly Tolhurst: We are committed to ensuring all small businesses have access to the advice and support they need to succeed to start, grow, and scale up their businesses. The Government-backed British Business Bank is there to make finance markets work better for small businesses at all stages of their development. The Bank’s programmes are currently supporting over £6.6bn of finance to over 89,000 smaller businesses (in London £119m of finance to over 15,000 smaller businesses). The British Business Bank’s Start-Up Loans programme provides loans to entrepreneurs seeking to start and grow their own businesses. Since 2012, the Programme has delivered almost 66,500 loans, worth over £527m to small businesses. There are 38 Growth Hubs (one in each Local Enterprise Partnership area) providing a free and impartial, local single point of contact to all businesses, no matter their size or sector, to access advice and support from across the public and private sector. In 2018-2019 Growth Hubs supported over 121,500 businesses (over 4,600 in London).Through three rounds of competitive Growth Deals, Government has invested over £9bn of funding, including £435.3m to London, to empower local areas to reach their potential, boosting national productivity and growth. All businesses can access core services, information and guidance on starting up and running a business, as well as their statutory rights and obligations, on our GOV.UK websites, and our Business Support Helpline forms a key part of the government’s offer to SMEs in England, providing trusted and joined-up information and sign-posting businesses to relevant sources of support. In 2018, it helped 31,500 businesses, of which 65% were entrepreneurs and start-ups. We will continue to work to make small business owners more aware of the wide range of advice and support available to them.

Severn Power Station

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Severn Power Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Glanford Brigg Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Peterborough Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Blackburn Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Enfield Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Cottam Development Centre Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Grain CHP Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Killingholme Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of VPI Immingham Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Rye House Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Sandbach Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Thornhill Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of London Heat and Power Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Langage Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Coryton Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what is the generation capacity of what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Rocksavage Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Marchwood Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Little Barford Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Staythorpe C Natural Gas Power Station.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the (a) generation capacity and (b) estimated decommissioning date is of Chickerell Natural Gas Power Station.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Generation capacity information for GB can be located on the TEC Register on the National Grid ESO website at https://www.nationalgrideso.com/document/149106/download Generation capacity information for NI can be located in the annual All-Island Generation Capacity Statement produced by the Transmission System Operators for Ireland and Northern Ireland, the most recent of which can be found at http://www.eirgridgroup.com/site-files/library/EirGrid/Generation_Capacity_Statement_2018.pdf Decommissioning decisions are a commercial matter for the company concerned. Following consultation in November 2016 the Government confirmed its commitment to put an end to unabated coal power generation in GB from 2025.

New Businesses: Hampshire

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate she has made of the number of business start-ups in (a) East Hampshire constituency and (b) Hampshire in each year since 2010.

Kelly Tolhurst: According to ONS Business Demography UK data (the most recent of which is for 2017), the number of enterprise births for each year since 2010 for a) East Hampshire and b) Hampshire are indicated in the table below. Please note, this data refers to the number of VAT/PAYE registrations. East HampshireHampshire (county)2010545530020116205640201262557452013690722020146307135201574078302016660832520176857720

Fireworks: Animal Welfare

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps her Department is taking to protect animals from the effects of fireworks.

Kelly Tolhurst: The Government is aware of concern over the impact of fireworks on animals. That is one of the reasons that there is already a maximum legal noise level set for fireworks. It is important that users follow instructions and use fireworks responsibly, as, together with owners of animals taking certain precautions, this can help to reduce or avoid any detrimental effects on animals. The Office for Product Safety and Standards is currently working with the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on a new campaign to raise awareness of these issues in advance of bonfire night.

Fireworks: Antisocial Behaviour

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps her Department has taken to tackle the anti-social use of fireworks.

Kelly Tolhurst: There are strong laws in place to control firework availability and use, including age restrictions for those under 18. Most people use fireworks responsibly. The police and local authorities have powers to tackle anti-social behaviour caused by the misuse of fireworks, where it arises.

Construction: Carbon Emissions

Mr Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to reduce carbon emissions in the construction sector.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government, working in partnership with industry, launched the Construction Sector Deal in July 2018, in order to deliver a substantial improvement in the productivity growth of the sector. At the heart of the deal is a joint public and private sector investment of £420m in the Transforming Construction Programme, which will accelerate the adoption of digital and manufacturing technologies to improve building performance and reduce waste, with the aim of reducing lifetime carbon emissions by 50%. In particular, £32m has been invested in the Advanced Building Centre which is developing energy generation and storage technologies for use in buildings. Through the Green Construction Board, we are working with industry to achieve the Buildings Mission goal of halving the energy consumption of new buildings by 2030, and halve the cost of retrofit over the same period. The Board is also working with Government to develop a road map to zero avoidable waste in the sector. The road map will be delivered by the end of next year. By reducing waste and encouraging the use of sustainable materials we can further reduce Green House Gas emissions.

Boilers: Biofuels

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 17 January 2019 to Question 208368 on Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme: Scotland, how many outstanding decision notices there are for applications under the renewable heat incentive scheme for the installation of a biomass boiler for (a) non-domestic properties and (b) domestic applications.

Kwasi Kwarteng: At the end of September 2019 (the latest available data) in Scotland, there were 60 non-domestic biomass boiler applications outstanding (i.e. not yet accredited or rejected from the scheme); and 17 domestic biomass boiler applications outstanding.

Stornoway Wind Farm: Contracts

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, for what reason Stornoway Wind Farm was unsuccessful in the third Contracts for Difference round.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The winners of the third Contracts for Difference (CfD) Allocation Round were determined by a competitive auction. The auction is run independently by the Delivery Body, National Grid ESO to bring forward the most cost-effective projects in each delivery year. The auction results are then independently audited by Deloitte to ensure all calculations have complied with the relevant sections of the CfD Allocation Framework. BEIS has no visibility of the bid prices of projects and so cannot comment on the reasons for unsuccessful projects.

Energy: Storage

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the answer of 8 April 2019 to Question 240591 on Energy: storage, when the Government plans to amend the Electricity Act 1989 to define electricity storage as a distinct subset of generation.

Kwasi Kwarteng: In our 2017 Smart Systems and Flexibility Plan and 2018 Progress Update, the Government committed to amend the Electricity Act 1989 to define electricity storage as a distinct subset of generation. We will do this as soon as parliamentary time allows. This is an important measure to improve regulatory clarity for electricity storage, and one that we will honour.

Stornoway Wind Farm: Contracts

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment she has made of the effect of Stornoway wind farm being unsuccessful in the third Contracts for Difference auction on the proposed interconnector to the Western Isles; and if she will make a statement.

Kwasi Kwarteng: Decisions to approve network infrastructure are a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator, in response to proposals brought forward by network companies. It is therefore for Ofgem to assess the case for a transmission link to the Western Isles. Ofgem consulted between 19th March 2019 and 31st May 2019 on its ‘minded-to’ decision on a Needs Case for the proposed link, which had been prepared by Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission. On 12th September 2019, Ofgem published an update letter on its consideration, which can be found at https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/publications-and-updates/update-letter-proposed-shetland-and-western-isles-electricity-transmission-projects. In this letter, Ofgem states that it expects to publish a final decision on the Needs Case in late Autumn 2019.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

United Arab Emirates: Prisoners

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with his UAE counterpart on the treatment and release of the group of Emirati prisoners of conscience known as the UAE 94.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The UK urges all countries to comply with their human rights obligations. Our close relationship with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) allows us to discuss important issues such as human rights and where the UK has cause for concern, we raise these concerns at official and Ministerial level. We have previously raised the case of Ahmed Mansoor with senior Emirati officials in the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the feasibility of (a) the United Nations and (b) another independent observer to report on alleged human rights abuses in Kashmir.

Dominic Raab: We recognise that there are human rights concerns in both India-administered Kashmir and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We encourage all states to ensure domestic laws are in line with international standards. Any allegation of human rights abuse is deeply concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. We are in regular contact with both the Indian and Pakistani Governments and have discussed the situation in Kashmir, the issue of human rights, and our concerns, with both governments.​

Kashmir: Armed Forces

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the actions of Indian security forces in Kashmir.

Dominic Raab: We are following the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with the governments of India and of Pakistan. The Prime Minister and I have discussed the situation in Kashmir with our Indian counterparts and raised UK concerns. Lord Ahmad has also spoken on a number of occasions with both the Indian High Commissioner and Pakistan High Commission about the situation. Events in Kashmir can have regional and international implications and we urge calm and caution from all. We are aware of media reports of torture by Security Forces in India-administered Kashmir. Any allegation of torture is deeply concerning, and we urge all countries to guarantee the fundamental rights of their citizens. We have raised this issue with the Indian Government. It is important that individual rights are fully respected, and that any allegations of human rights violations or abuses are investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. ​

Amazonia: Rain Forests

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote measures to prevent deforestation in the Amazon at (a) the UN and (b) other multilateral institutions.

Dominic Raab: The Government is committed to encouraging and contributing to international action to address the widespread problem of deforestation. Through our international network we support and regularly advocate for international cooperation on deforestation through multilateral institutions such as the UN and the World Bank. Together with international partners, we pledged to mobilise US $5billion between 2015 and 2020 to help reduce deforestation and promote sustainable land use in the world's tropical forest basins, including the Amazon.

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent diplomatic steps he has taken to ensure that the Chinese government complies with the terms of the 1984 Sino-British Agreement.

Dominic Raab: In recent weeks, I have spoken both to the Hong Kong Chief Executive, Carrie Lam, and to the Chinese Foreign Minister, State Councillor Wang Yi. I made clear the UK’s continuing support for the “One Country, Two Systems” framework, which is guaranteed by the legally binding Joint Declaration of 1984 and enshrined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. I have also spoken to a wide range of counterparts on this issue and welcomed the strong statements from our international partners. The Prime Minister raised Hong Kong at the recent G7 meeting, where all G7 partners reaffirmed the importance of the Joint Declaration and called for an end to the violence. We will continue to engage the Hong Kong SAR government, the Chinese government and international partners, reiterating the fundamental importance of upholding the Sino-British Joint Declaration. Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy is what guarantees its future prosperity and success.​

Hong Kong: Politics and Government

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his counterpart in Hong Kong on the conduct of the Hong Kong police force during recent demonstrations in that country.

Dominic Raab: I raised the response of the Hong Kong authorities to recent protests when I spoke to Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam on 9 August. Whilst there is no excuse for violence, it is vital that the response of the authorities is proportionate. The Hong Kong SAR Government should also establish a robust, independent investigation into events. We note that the Independent Police Complaints Council are carrying out an inquiry and we look forward to further details on its scope. Whatever the format of the inquiry, it is crucial that it is credible, transparent, can rebuild trust and help to resolve the current tensions. Recent developments underline the pressing need for a constructive dialogue to address the legitimate concerns of the people of Hong Kong.

Gibraltar: Spain

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what estimate he has made of the amount of time it will take to cross the border between Spain and Gibraltar in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Dominic Raab: ​Since June 2016, the United Kingdom Government has engaged constructively with the Government of Gibraltar and our European partners, including Spain, to address the practical implications - including border crossings - for Gibraltar arising from EU Exit. The Spanish Government, including most recently Foreign Minister Borrell, has made clear the importance of maintaining border fluidity. The Government of Gibraltar is focussed on keeping its side of the border moving quickly.

Gibraltar: Economic Situation

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions officials in his Department have had with trades unions in Gibraltar on the effect on (a) jobs and (b) the economy in Gibraltar of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Dominic Raab: Foreign Office officials have not had discussions with trade unions in Gibraltar to discuss EU Exit. The Government of Gibraltar is responsible for its own contingency planning. The United Kingdom Government regularly engages with the Government of Gibraltar to provide expert advice and support to ensure that robust plans are in place. The Prime Minister has assured the Chief Minister that, as a member of the United Kingdom family, we will protect Gibraltar's interests as we leave the EU.

China: Uighurs

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the detention of Uighur Muslims in China.

Dominic Raab: On 26 September during an Urgent Question on Hong Kong, I set out the UK's serious concerns about the credible reports of over a million Uyghur Muslims being held in so-called "re-education camps". As I stated in the House, we will continue to ensure that these concerns are expressed directly with Chinese authorities. We also raise the issue multilaterally: the UK recently co-hosted an event on Xinjiang at the UN General Assembly where the Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, called for China to allow UN observers unfettered access to the region. The former Foreign Secretary highlighted our concerns about Xinjiang with Chinese State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his last visit to China. The former Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific did the same with Vice Minister Guo Yezhou during his last visit to China.

China: Religious Freedom

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the persecution of Christians in that country.

Dominic Raab: On 26 September during an Urgent Question on Hong Kong, I set out the UK's position on the persecution of groups in China on the grounds of religion or belief. As I stated in the House, we are concerned that Chinese Government guidelines on unapproved religious activity, education and travel may restrict the peaceful observation of those rights. We take a proactive approach to influencing on freedom of religion or belief; in July 2019, the UK attended a US-led Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom. The UK also signed a declaration to address religious persecution and discrimination worldwide, and to promote freedom of religion or belief for all.Furthermore, at the 41st session of the UN Human Rights Council in July 2019, we raised our concerns about freedom of religion or belief in our 'Item 4' national statement. At the 40th session of the UN HRC in March, the Prime Minister's former Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, highlighted our concerns about restrictions on FoRB in China – including on Muslims in Xinjiang and Christians. Lord Ahmad also set out the Government's position when answering an Oral Question in the House of Lords on 4 April.

Wang Yi

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Chinese counterpart on the detention of Pastor Wang Yi.

Dominic Raab: I have not had recent discussions with my Chinese counterpart on the detention of Pastor Wang Yi. However, we have raised our concerns about the closure of churches in China, including the Early Rain Covenant Church, which Pastor Wang Yi founded. British diplomats met with Chinese officials earlier this year and expressed concern regarding the pressures facing Christians. They directly raised Pastor Wang’s case. In January, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad, the Prime Minister’s former Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief, raised concerns about the case in the House of Lords.​

Yemen: Peace Negotiations

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what progress he has made on preparations to table a UN resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire by all parties in the conflict in Yemen throughout that country.

Dominic Raab: A nationwide ceasefire will only have an effect on the ground if it is underpinned by a political deal between the conflict parties. The UK has played a leading role in diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution. On 26 September, the UK co-hosted a political event at the UN General Assembly to coordinate the international community’s support for the UN-led peace process and endorse the UN Special Envoy’s plan to begin wider political discussion. The UK has used its role as penholder at the UN Security Council to help push the Yemen peace process forward. UK-proposed Resolutions 2451 and 2452 were unanimously adopted by the Security Council in December 2018 and January 2019, respectively. We have issued both P5 and UNSC statements this year, urging the parties to implement the Stockholm agreements and reiterating members’ support for the work of Martin Griffiths. Our work at the Security Council has helped to corral international support for UN Special Envoy and we will continue to use our role as penholder to support the UN-led peace process.​

Yemen: Military Intervention

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the Saudi-led Coalition's compliance with international law in relation to the recent attack on a detention centre in Sana’a.

Dominic Raab: We are deeply concerned about reports of civilian deaths after an attack on a detention centre in Dhamar province in Yemen on 1 September. Our thoughts are with those who have been affected. The UK takes alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) extremely seriously. Whenever the UK receives reports of alleged violations of IHL, we routinely seek information from all credible sources, including from Non-Governmental Organisations and international organisations. We welcome the Coalition’s referral of this incident to be investigated by the Joint Incident Assessment Team. The UK believes that in the first instance the Coalition should investigate alleged breaches of IHL attributed to them. They have best insight into their own military procedures and this allows them to really understand what went wrong and apply the lessons learnt in the best possible way. The UK regularly raises the importance of IHL and of conducting thorough and conclusive investigations into alleged violations with Saudi Arabia, including at senior levels.​

Yemen: Military Intervention

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on the involvement in the recent air strikes on a detention centre in Sana’a of UK (a) planes and (b) weapons sold to Saudi Arabia.

Dominic Raab: The Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria provide a thorough risk assessment framework and require us to consider the possible impact of providing equipment and its capabilities. We will not issue any export licences for Saudi Arabia that are inconsistent with the Consolidated Criteria, including Criterion 2(c): whether there is a clear risk that the goods might be used in the commission of a serious violation of International Humanitarian Law.​

Saudi Arabia: Military Intervention

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made on the effectiveness of the Saudi-led coalition’s procedures for investigating airstrikes on civilian targets.

Dominic Raab: The UK regularly presses the Coalition on the importance of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and of conducting thorough and conclusive investigations into alleged violations of IHL. We welcome the release of over 100 statements by the Coalition Joint Incident Assessment Team from investigations into alleged breaches of IHL in Yemen. We welcome the improvements in the quantity and quality of JIAT’s statements. While we recognise there remains room for improvement and will continue to provide support, we are encouraged by the progress JIAT has made.​

Yemen: War Crimes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make it his policy to support a full, independent UN-led inquiry into alleged war crimes committed by all sides in the Yemeni conflict.

Dominic Raab: The UK takes alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) extremely seriously. Whenever the UK receives reports of alleged violations of IHL, we routinely seek information from all credible sources, including from Non-Governmental Organisations and international organisations. The Government is not opposing calls for international independent investigation, but foremost, we believe the Coalition should investigate alleged breaches of IHL attributed to them. They have best insight into their own military procedures and this allows them to really understand what went wrong and apply the lessons learnt in the best possible way. The UK regularly raises the importance of IHL and of conducting thorough and conclusive investigations into alleged violations with Saudi Arabia, including at senior levels.​

Yemen: International Assistance

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the potential merits holding a debate on UK support for the war in Yemen.

Dominic Raab: The Government is deeply concerned by the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in Yemen. We fully support the peace process led by the UN Special Envoy, Martin Griffiths, and urge the parties to engage constructively with this process. A political settlement is the only way to bring long-term stability to Yemen and to address the worsening humanitarian crisis. The UK supports the Saudi-led Coalition military intervention, accepted by the UN Security Council, which came at the request of legitimate President Hadi who was forced to flee Sana’a following a rebel insurgency which took the capital by force and overthrew the legitimate Government of Yemen, as recognised by the international community. Saudi Arabia and its allies are responding to a crisis that was forced on them and that poses a grave threat to international peace and security.​

Attorney General

Crown Prosecution Service: Finance

Steve McCabe: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the additional funding for the Crown Prosecution Service announced in August 2019, what criteria he will use to decide how to distribute that funding across that Service.

Michael Ellis: The CPS will face additional demand, following the Government’s investment in 20,000 additional police officers, and the process changes required to improve performance on statutory disclosure obligations. As always the CPS will distribute funding to ensure it has the right levels of resource with the right skills and in the right geographical locations to handle future caseload volumes.

Prorogation: Legal Costs

David Hanson: To ask the Attorney General, how much was spent by the UK Government in undertaking legal action in the (a) Cherry and others (Respondents) v Advocate General for Scotland (Appellant) (Scotland), (b) R (on the application of Miller) (Appellant) v The Prime Minister (Respondent) in the Supreme Court, (c) case number CO/3385/2019 in the High Court, (d) reclaiming motion by Joanna Cherry QC MP and others against the Advocate General in the Outer Court of Scotland and (e) (First) Joanna Cherry QC MP and others for judicial review in the Outer Court of Scotland cases.

Michael Ellis: No estimate has been made of the total costs of the prorogation litigation, which only recently concluded. We expect to know the final figures in November.

Prorogation: Legal Costs

Tom Brake: To ask the Attorney General, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the legal cases in relation to the prorogation of Parliament.

Michael Ellis: No estimate has been made of the total costs of the prorogation litigation, which only recently concluded. We expect to know the final figures in November.

Exploitation: Children and Young People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the Crown Prosecution Service's complaince with legislation and guidance relating to the avoidance of unnecessary prosecution of children and young people who have been groomed, exploited or trafficked as part of county lines criminal activity.

Michael Ellis: The exploitation, grooming, and trafficking of children and young people is abhorrent. The CPS takes great care to ensure the right people are prosecuted for the right offences in county lines cases, by training prosecutors to have an increased awareness of gang-associated exploitation and to scrutinise the evidence. This builds on clear CPS guidance which recognises the principle of non-prosecution of victims of trafficking or slavery. Early identification by investigators is essential, in order to avoid the criminalisation of victims. On 1 October 2019, the Home Secretary announced a surge of activity to crack down on county lines drugs gangs. The package of measures, underpinned by £20 million of Home Office investment, will intensify law enforcement efforts to disrupt the county lines model, including the provision of specialist support to victims and families in order to help children and young people exit their involvement in county lines.

Exploitation: Children and Young People

Lyn Brown: To ask the Attorney General, what support he is providing to the Crown Prosecution Service to ensure that Modern Slavery Act 2015 provisions and associated guidance relating to the avoidance of unnecessary prosecution of children and young people who have been groomed, exploited or trafficked as part of county lines criminal activity is followed in full.

Michael Ellis: The Law Officers superintend the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). The CPS is the principal prosecuting authority in England and Wales with responsibility for charging decisions in criminal cases. The CPS has published clear legal guidance which recognises the principle of non-prosecution of victims of trafficking or slavery. It has delivered training on the steps to be taken, where there is a reason to believe that a suspect or defendant in a criminal case might be a victim. In those circumstances, the prosecutor will consider what further evidence or information might be required and will review whether the prosecution should proceed or not. The guidance sets out that where there is sufficient evidence that the accused is a victim and the conditions provided for in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act 2015 are met, the case should not be charged or proceeded with.

Trials

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Attorney General, what the average amount of time was, in each of the last eight years, between a case's first referral to the CPS and the conclusions of that case, for all cases which reached a trial in England.

Michael Ellis: The table below shows the total average time, in days, from referral to finalisation for each year from 2011/12 to 2018/19 where the CPS made a decision to charge and where a trial outcome was recorded in England.YearAverage days from referral to finalisation2011-2012225.272012-2013233.272013-2014226.092014-2015243.742015-2016253.822016-2017256.772017-2018259.242018-2019276.92Data Source: CPS Case Management Information System

Fraud: Prosecutions

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Attorney General, how many cases have been prosecuted by the Serious Fraud Office in each of the last ten years.

Michael Ellis: The SFO exists to tackle the most serious and complex cases of fraud, bribery and corruption. The SFO’s remit is to investigate and, where appropriate, prosecute those cases that fall within this remit.   Please find a breakdown of Serious Fraud Office (SFO) prosecutions by case in each financial year:   Financial YearNumber of Cases2009/1082010/1142011/1272012/1352013/1472014/1542015/1652016/1772017/1832018/192Total52   Please note we interpret the prosecution of an SFO case to begin from the date of the first charge brought against an individual or organisation in a case. More information about our cases is available online at https://www.sfo.gov.uk/our-cases/.

Unexplained Wealth Orders

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Attorney General, how many unexplained wealth orders the Serious Fraud Office has (a) applied for and (b) been granted in each of the last 10 financial years.

Michael Ellis: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has not applied for any Unexplained Wealth Orders (UWO) to date. However, the SFO is committed to making use of the new powers enacted in the Criminal Finances Act 2017, including UWOs, and they proactively review all cases to see whether the use of this tool would be appropriate.

Fraud: Prosecutions

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Attorney General, how many Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) the Serious Fraud Office has entered into in each of the last 10 years.

Michael Ellis: Deferred Prosecution Agreements (DPAs) have been available to prosecutors since February 2014. The SFO has agreed five DPAs with UK companies since the legislation came into force, three of which were for overseas corruption offences. Full details of all DPAs are available on the SFO’s website at: https://www.sfo.gov.uk/publications/guidance-policy-and-protocols/deferred-prosecution-agreements/.

Fraud: Confiscation Orders

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Attorney General, what the total value is of all assets confiscated by the Serious Fraud Office in each of the last 10 years.

Michael Ellis: The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) has a dedicated Proceeds of Crime Division which is focused on recovering the proceeds of crime so that criminals who are successfully prosecuted by the SFO do not benefit from their offending and victims can be compensated wherever possible. The total value of all proceeds of crime orders obtained by the SFO in each financial year since 2010, and the total value of payments made against them, can be found on the SFO website at https://www.sfo.gov.uk/about-us/.

Department of Health and Social Care

NHS: Drugs

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure the supply of medicines to hospitals in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Edward Argar: The Department wants to reassure patients we are doing everything necessary to make sure they can access the medicines and medical products they need after the United Kingdom leaves the European Union on 31 October, whatever the circumstances. The Department, in consultation with the devolved administrations, has been working with trade bodies, product suppliers, and the health and care system in England to make detailed plans that should ensure continuation of the supply of medicines to the whole of the UK and its Crown Dependencies. On 26 June, we wrote to suppliers of medicines to the UK from or via the EU or European Economic Area setting out our continuing multi-layered approach to support continuity of supply of medicines and medical products from 31 October.Further details can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/news/medicines-and-medical-products-supply-government-updates-no-deal-brexit-plans

Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco: Import Duties

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on HM Treasury’s September 2019 publicity campaign on duty free cigarettes and alcohol for travellers to EU countries in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Jo Churchill: No such discussions have taken place. The Government is committed to addressing harms from alcohol and smoking and improving the population’s health.

Doctors and Nurses: Hampshire

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 286692, what equivalent data exists for the county of Hampshire and not limited to Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Edward Argar: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services (HCHS) workforce statistics for England. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers.The Department does not hold data for geographical regions. The NHS Digital data that the Department holds provides information by National Health Service trusts, CCGs and Health Education England regions. As such, Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust was the best proxy that could be used to answer Question 286692.

Physiotherapy: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on patients of the three month waiting time to see an NHS physiotherapist in Dudley.

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce waiting times for patients waiting to see an NHS (a) physiotherapist and (b) orthotist.

Edward Argar: Physiotherapy and orthotic services are commissioned locally by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and data on waiting times for physiotherapy and orthotic services are not collected centrally. NHS England published guidance in 2015 setting out plans to tackle unwarranted regional variation in access to orthotic services. The guidance ‘Improving the Quality of Orthotics Services in England’, included a model services specification and set out 10 recommended steps for commissioners to take towards better services for patients including understanding local needs and preferences, delivering services in the community rather than out of hospitals, and encouraging joint working between health professionals to streamline the experience for patients and avoid unnecessary duplication and delays. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/commissioning/wp-content/uploads/sites/12/2015/11/orthcs-final-rep.pdf

Eyesight: Medical Treatments

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure all patients receive sight saving treatment when they need it.

Jo Churchill: Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning secondary care ophthalmology services to meet local need. We would expect services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance where it is available or best available evidence and for patients to receive treatment, in line with their clinical priority, without any undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. National Health Service patients have a right in the NHS Constitution to drugs and treatments recommended by NICE, where the patient's clinician considers it appropriate.Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national clinical improvement programme, working with frontline clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted variations in service delivery and clinical practice. NHS England advise the GIRFT report into ophthalmology, which will contain recommendations for service improvement, is due for publication shortly.

Dentistry: Qualifications

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for the conclusion of the discussions with the General Dental Council on increasing capacity for the Overseas Registration Exam.

Jo Churchill: The Department is working with the General Dental Council to determine legislative changes needed to ensure its international registration processes are effective and proportionate. Any legislative changes will be subject to public consultation.

Dehydration and Malnutrition: Health Services

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to NHS England’s Commissioning Excellent Nutrition and Hydration 2015-2018 guidance, published on 8 October 2015, what progress he has made on the commissioning of a workforce to reduce the burden of malnutrition and dehydration through (a) identification, (b) prevention and (c) intervention.

Jo Churchill: Between November 2017 and March 2019, the NHS England Nursing Directorate delivered two nutrition improvement collaboratives which supported 50 National Health Service provider organisation to deliver improvements in the provision of nutritional care. The overall aims were to:- Increase the proportion of patients with an accurate nutritional screen;- Increase the proportion of patients receiving appropriate nutritional interventions; and- Introduce or increase the use of quality improvement tools and techniques. The organisations involved in the collaboratives had multi-professional teams including nurses, Allied Health Professionals and caterers. A range of interventions were introduced by the organisations to support improvements including education, training of staff, reviewing availability of equipment to support nutritional screening and assessment. Governance structures were implemented to enable reporting of nutritional care to the trust board. To further build on this a Nutrition Quality Improvement Toolkit is also being developed.

Malnutrition

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients readmitted to hospital within (a) zero to seven and (b) eight to 180 days were recorded as suffering malnutrition as a (i) primary or (ii) secondary condition (a) in each of the last 10 years and (b) in the last 12 months.

Jo Churchill: NHS Digital has advised that data for the last 10 years can only be obtained at a disproportionate cost.

Nutrition

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 6 August 2019 to Question 280423, what is the remit of the review of national standards for healthcare food for patients staff and visitors started by the Healthcare Food Standards and Strategy Group in July 2018; when the review is intended to be completed; and whether the findings of the review will be publicly available.

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 6 August 2019 to Question 280423, how the Hospital Food Review, announced on 23 August 2019, if he will take into account findings from the review by the Healthcare Food Standards and Strategy Group into the national standards for healthcare food for patients staff and visitors.

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will list the members of the task group undertaking the Hospital Food Review launched in August 2019.

Eleanor Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish the intended timescale for the Hospital Food Review announced on 23 August 2019; and what organisations outside the NHS involved in the provision of food including medical foods will be consulted in the review.

Jo Churchill: The review of national standards for healthcare food for patients, staff and visitors is bringing together relevant food requirements and best practice from the National Health Service. The new standards will reflect Government nutrition advice, as outlined in Public Health England’s (PHE) Eatwell Guide.The review of national standards for healthcare food is being developed alongside the Hospital Food Review and the new standards are expected to be published early next year.The Hospital Food Review is being undertaken by a Panel chaired by Philip Shelley, Facilities Manager at Taunton and Somerset NHS Foundation Trust. The members of the Panel are:- Emma Brookes, NHS Improvement;- Michael Bellas, NHS Improvement;- Tina Potter, Food Standards Agency;- Rachel Manners, PHE;- Martin Steele, NHS Property Services;- Kerry Trunks, NHS/Ward Sister;- Craig Smith, Hospital Caterers Association (HCA);- Gail Walker, HCA/Open Door;- Balwinder Dhoot, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs;- Susannah McWilliam, Soil Association;- Maxine Cartz, British Dietetic Association (BDA);- Andy Burnham, BDA;- Jason Yiannikkou, Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); and- William Vineall, DHSC.Prue Leith has been appointed as an advisor to the review.The review will also consult other key stakeholders, including NHS trusts, professional associations, patient representatives and commercial suppliers. Organisations involved in the provision of food to the NHS that will be consulted include:- Apetito;- Anglia Crown;- Tillery Valley;- Brakes;- Bidfood; and- Healthy Food Company.This is not an exhaustive list and other organisations may be consulted.The Hospital Food Review is scheduled for completion in January 2020.

Allergies: Medical Equipment

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the availability of adrenaline auto-injectors.

Jo Churchill: Adrenaline auto-injectors are currently available and all patients who require an adrenaline auto-injector should be able to obtain a device from their pharmacy. The Department continues to work very closely with all the manufacturers of adrenaline auto-injectors to ensure supply remains available in sufficient quantities to support demand.

Anaemia and Gastritis: Health Services

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to make an announcement on the updating of the NICE guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of (a) pernicious anaemia and (b) autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis.

Jo Churchill: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops clinical guidelines on topics referred to it by NHS England and NHS Improvement. NICE has been asked to develop a guideline on pernicious anaemia but this work has not yet begun and there is currently no timescale for guideline development. Once started, NICE works to produce guidelines as quickly as possible, but also has a detailed development process that includes extensive engagement with experts and stakeholders to ensure a high quality guideline. NICE has not produced any guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of autoimmune metaplastic atrophic gastritis, and has no current plans to do so.

Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people were treated for alcohol-related illnesses in (a) York, (b) North Yorkshire and Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group area and (c) England in each year since 2010.

Jo Churchill: Public Health England (PHE) holds data on alcohol-related hospital admissions for each local authority area in England which is shown in the following table.Alcohol specific hospital admissions between 2010-11 and 2017-18YearYorkNorth YorkshireEast Riding of YorkshireEngland2010-118412,6791,234284,6602011-127932,5621,401302,2812012-138912,4801,232293,8592013-141,1242,6871,266303,9322014-151,1383,1341,279301,0562015-161,2543,1591,350307,2472016-171,2813,1631,495298,7972017-181,2663,0971,480304,073Source: Local Alcohol Profiles for England: https://fingertips.phe.org.uk/profile/local-alcohol-profilesNote: These three local authority areas cover the areas requested.PHE also collects data on people who are in treatment for alcohol problems in the National Drug Treatment Monitoring System (NDTMS), for each local authority area in England which is shown in the following table.   Numbers of people in treatment who reported alcohol as a problematic substance between 2010-11 and 2017-18AreaYorkNorth YorkshireEast Riding of YorkshireEngland2010-117511,358523150,5732011-126041,507516149,4032012-136701,185604150,2672013-147031,046712155,3812014-156991,106631150,6402015-167431,340637144,9082016-177241,376583138,6062017-186351,339511131,008Source: NDTMS: https://www.ndtms.net/Note: These three local authority areas cover the areas requested.

Dental Services: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the (a) gross expenditure including dental charges and (b) net expenditure was in respect of NHS general dental services in North Yorkshire and York in each year since 2010-11.

Jo Churchill: The data is not available in the format requested.

Hospitals: North Yorkshire

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many finished consultant episodes there were (a) in total and (b) in each speciality at York Teaching Hospital NHS Trust in each year since 2010-11.

Edward Argar: A count of finished consultant episodes in total and by consultant treatment specialty for York Teaching Hospital from 2010-11 to 2018-19 is attached. 



Finished Consultant Episodes York NHS
(Excel SpreadSheet, 26.65 KB)

Health Services: Per Capita Costs

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what allocation per capita was made by his Department in respect of clinical commissioning group (CCG) services in (a) each CCG in York and North Yorkshire, (b) each region of England and (c) England in each year since 2015 (i) in cash terms and (ii) at constant prices.

Edward Argar: In respect of clinical commissioning group (CCG) services, per capita Yorkshire and the Humber CCGs’ allocations for 2015/16 onwards are shown in the attached table. CCG allocation announcements for 2015 onwards, including the breakdown by region of England and total for England in real terms can be found at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/allocations/

Heart Diseases: Children and Young People

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to introduce a national strategy for the prevention of sudden cardiac death in children and young adults.

Jo Churchill: Following its last review of screening for sudden cardiac death (SCD) in young people (12-39 years old), during which a number of stakeholders were consulted, such as Cardiac Risk in the Young and the British Cardiovascular Society, the independent United Kingdom National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recommended in 2015 that screening should not be offered.The UK NSC opened a three month public consultation on screening for SCD in 12 to 39 year olds on 7 June 2019. The consultation closed on 7 September 2019. The UK NSC will review comments received from the consultation at its meeting on 8 November 2019 and will make a recommendation to the Department as to whether screening for SCD should or should not be introduced, based on robust peer reviewed evidence.

Mental Health Services: York

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS (a) beds and (b) full-time equivalent staff there were for mental health services provided within the City of York Council area in 2010 and each subsequent year.

Ms Nadine Dorries: The latest available information for adult mental health services covering the City of York Council area, commissioned by the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and provided by Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust, is in the following table. Due to service reconfiguration, information is not available prior to October 2015. Adult mental health servicesBedsWhole-time equivalent staffOctober 201558106.08March 201648111.68March 201770121.75March 201870137.07March 201964145.81September 201960115.31Source: Vale of York CCG In addition, NHS England has advised that it commissions 59 adult low-secure, eating disorder and psychiatric intensive care beds and 15 children and young people’s mental health beds in the City of York Council area. These are provided by Leeds and Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. Historic numbers for beds and data on whole-time equivalent staff, are not available centrally.

NHS: Fees and Charges

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the letter from Lord O’Shaughnessy to the hon. Member for Sheffield Central on 21 December 2017, what progress the Government has made on its review of upfront charging and extending charges to out-of-hospital care and care providers by non-NHS organisations.

Edward Argar: As part of the review of the 2017 Amendment Regulations, the Department engaged with a number of external stakeholders and received evidence from over 60 organisations and individuals. The findings of this review were announced in the Written Ministerial Statement (HCWS1174) laid by the then Minister of State for Health (Stephen Hammond MP) on 12 December 2018.

Ophthalmic Services: Standards

Karen Lee: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve ophthalmology services.

Jo Churchill: Clinical commissioning groups are responsible for commissioning secondary care ophthalmology services to meet local need. We would expect services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance where it is available or best available evidence and for patients to receive treatment, in line with their clinical priority, without any undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment.Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national clinical improvement programme, working with frontline clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted variations in service delivery and clinical practice. NHS England advises the GIRFT report into ophthalmology, which will contain recommendations for service improvement, is due for publication shortly.

Clinical Commissioning Groups: Greater London

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish data relating to the final two quarters of 2018-19 of Annual Accounts Surplus or Deficit for London Clinical Commissioning Groups; and will he make a statement.

Edward Argar: The 2018/19 summarised national financial results are published in the NHS England Board papers for the 27 June Board meeting and are available from the NHS England website at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/4-Operational-quality-and-financial-performance-update.pdfClinical commissioning groups (CCG) financial results are split between regions.Annual Accounts are published separately by CCGs on their individual websites and are available either from those websites or by direct approach to a CCG. 2018/19 Month 12 finance papers are all published in the board papers of each CCG. These are available from individual CCG websites.

Eyesight: Testing

Mr Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce waiting times for eye care appointments.

Jo Churchill: Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning all secondary care ophthalmology services and are also able to commission primary care services (i.e. minor eye services, glaucoma monitoring, referral, refinement and post cataract assessment) in the community to reduce secondary care demand for services and better meet identified needs.We would expect services to be commissioned in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidance where it is available or best available evidence and for patients to receive treatment, in line with their clinical priority, without any undue delay at any stage of their referral, diagnosis or treatment. Where urgent referral pathways do not exist all patients in England have a right to start consultant-led treatment within a maximum of 18 weeks from referral for non-urgent conditions. National guidance is also clear that all follow-up appointments should take place when clinically appropriate.Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) is a national clinical improvement programme, working with frontline clinicians to identify and reduce unwarranted variations in service delivery and clinical practice. The GIRFT programme looked at what can be done to ensure ophthalmology patients do not suffer unnecessary delays in follow-up care. NHS England advise the GIRFT report into ophthalmology, which will contain recommendations for service improvement, is due for publication shortly.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives from NHS providers in Cheshire and Merseyside on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Edward Argar: The Department is working with its partners across Government, arm’s length bodies, local authorities, industry and the wider health and care system to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans. In August 2019 the Department published up-to-date guidance on GOV.UK on what local authorities can do to prepare for leaving the European Union. This covers a range of issues including workforce, business continuity planning, data sharing, and the continuity of supply of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables, and of non-clinical goods and services, it also provides key contact information and signposts where local authorities and providers can go for further support. We continue to work closely with the health and social care sector to ensure that this guidance is accurate, practical and up-to-date.

Department of Health and Social Care: Brexit

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions officials in his Department have had with representatives from Knowsley Borough Council on preparations for the UK leaving the EU without a withdrawal agreement.

Edward Argar: The Department is working with its partners across Government, arm’s length bodies, local authorities, industry and the wider health and care system to ensure that all relevant parties are prepared for exiting the European Union. The quality and safety of patient care is paramount in our preparedness plans. In August 2019 the Department published up-to-date guidance on GOV.UK on what local authorities can do to prepare for leaving the EU. This covers a range of issues including workforce, business continuity planning, data sharing, and the continuity of supply of medicines, medical devices and clinical consumables, and of non-clinical goods and services, it also provides key contact information and signposts where local authorities and providers can go for further support. We continue to work closely with the health and social care sector to ensure that this guidance is accurate, practical and up-to-date.

Electronic Cigarettes and Tobacco

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence base his Department used for the guidance issued on (a) vaping, (b) heat-not-burn and (c) other non-smoke nicotine products.

Jo Churchill: The Government has an ongoing programme to build the evidence base about e-cigarettes. This includes annual evidence updates available from Public Health England available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/e-cigarettes-and-vaping-policy-regulation-and-guidance#e-cigarettes-evidence-reviewsSystematic reviews from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence available at the following links:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng92https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ph45Reports from the Committees on Toxicity, Mutagenicity, Carcinogenicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment on heated tobacco products and on electronic cigarettes available at the following link:https://cot.food.gov.uk/committee/committee-on-toxicity/cotstatements/cotstatementsyrs/cot-statements-2017/statement-on-heat-not-burn-tobacco-productsThe Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s Yellow Card Scheme notification process for collecting safety concerns about e-cigarettes available at the following link:https://yellowcard.mhra.gov.uk/the-yellow-card-scheme/Reports from the National Poisons Information Service available at the following link:http://www.npis.org/

Breastfeeding

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what evidence base his Department used to produce guidance on the relative merits of breastfeeding and bottle feeding; and what changes have been made to that guidance in each of the last ten years.

Jo Churchill: In July 2018, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) published its report on ‘Feeding in the First Year of Life’, providing updated recommendations on infant feeding up to 12 months of age in the UK, which were last reviewed by SACN’s predecessor the Committee on Medical Aspects of Food and Nutrition Policy in 1994. The report can be found at the following link and it outlines in detail the evidence considered:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/feeding-in-the-first-year-of-life-sacn-reportSACN conducted a comprehensive risk assessment of the available evidence on infant feeding. The risk assessment included consideration of breastfeeding, infant formula feeding and the introduction of solid foods in relation to health outcomes. Based on this, SACN recommended that existing advice for women to exclusively breastfeed for around the first six months of life and to continue breastfeeding for at least the first year of life once solid foods have been introduced, should be retained.

Brexit

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable worst case planning assumptions paragraph 20, what four local authorities have been identified as priority concerns, which Ministers or Departments identified those local authorities; and what the decision making process was by which those four local authorities were selected.

Edward Argar: The four local authorities were identified as areas that might be most affected by road congestion, have ports or have publicly self-identified as struggling to balance their in-year budgets. Officials from the Department have engaged directly with the Directors of Adult Social Services in the four areas. This equipment has provided assurance that good levels of contingency preparations are in place. We are unable to name the four local authorities concerned as they have not given the Department permission to do so.

Social Services

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to Operation Yellowhammer HMG Reasonable Worst Case Planning Assumptions, what assessment his Department has made of the merits of intervention in the social care market in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Edward Argar: The Government’s priority is to make sure that people continue to receive the highest standard of care. The Department is doing everything appropriate with local government and our national partners to prepare for the United Kingdom to leave the European Union on 31 October 2019. This includes working with local authorities and care providers to ensure that contingency plans are in place so that they can respond if any disruption occurs, as well as regular monitoring of the adult social care sector to ensure that the Government can respond quickly if required.

HIV Infection: Drugs

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the effect of the absence of additional funding for local authorities in connection with each additional local place in the PrEP Impact Trial on the (a) rate of increase of places available within the trial, (b) likelihood of meeting the target to double trial places and (c) likelihood of individuals seeking PrEP treatment not being able to access it over the next year.

Jo Churchill: Following My Rt. hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care’s announcement on 30 January that the number of places on the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Impact Trial would be doubled to 26,000, expansion of the trial is now underway across the country.Participation by sites in the trial is on a voluntary basis and it is for clinics and local authorities to decide the number of allocated places they can accept from the number offered. Around 85% of participating clinics have confirmed they have the capacity to accept additional trial places, and those places have been released. Local authorities have now been asked to confirm whether clinic service providers can accept the remaining places allocated to them. Places remaining un-allocated may then be re-allocated to clinics currently closed for recruitment.

Orkambi and Symkevi

Lee Rowley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on negotiations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals on access to Orkambi and Symkevi in England.

Jo Churchill: NHS England and NHS Improvement have been leading negotiations with Vertex Pharmaceuticals and have made a revised and improved offer to Vertex that would provide immediate funding for Orkambi and Symkevi in advance of a positive assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). This would be in addition to expanded access to Kalydeco which is already funded by the National Health Service for certain patients. However, Vertex has refused to engage with the NICE process and is yet to accept the NHS England and NHS Improvement offer.The Government fully supports NICE and NHS England and NHS Improvement in seeking to ensure access for patients to effective and innovative medicines at a price that represents value to the NHS, and it is not for Ministers to intervene in this process. The Department’s approach remains to strongly urge Vertex to accept NHS England and NHS Improvement’s generous offer, but in the absence of a deal, we have asked NHS England and NHS Improvement to continue to explore all options to ensure patients can access treatments as soon as possible.The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care will be meeting the Chief Executive of Vertex again in the coming weeks to discuss what the barriers are to an agreement and how the situation can be resolved.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Sixth Form Education

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students with SEN who have completed two years of post-16 education as part of their Education, Health and Care Plan before accessing A-level provision were still attending 6th form study over the age of 20 in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Michelle Donelan: Information on the number of SEN students completing two years of post-16 education as part of their education, health and care (EHC) plan before accessing A-level provision, and who were still attending 6th form study over the age of 20, is not held by the department.The department publishes information on young people with an EHC plan by age and attainment here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/level-2-and-3-attainment-by-young-people-aged-19-in-2018.Tables 7, 8 and 9 detail information on young people that had an EHC plan at age 15 that went on to attain Level 2, Level 2 with English and Maths and Level 3 by age 19. Tables 10 and 11 detail the same information by ages 16, 17 and 18.

Children in Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many children were placed (a) with foster carers and (b) in residential homes out of county in each year since 2015.

Michelle Donelan: The number of looked-after children placed in foster placements and residential homes outside their local authority boundary since 2009 is shown in the attached table.The latest national figures on looked-after children by placement location are published in Table A4 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. 



290711_table
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Free School Meals

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many people in (a) City of York, (b) North Yorkshire, (c) Yorkshire and the Humber and (d) England received free school meals in each year since 2015.

Nick Gibb: The number and proportion of students who qualify for free school meals is published at national, regional, local authority and school level in the underlying data of the ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ publication. The 2019 publication is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2019.The underlying data file is: Schools_pupils_and_their_characteristics_2019_pupil_characteristics_UD.csv includes columns for region, local authority and parliamentary constituency.

Special Educational Needs

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 21 June 2019 to Question 263684, what assessment his Department has made of the compliance of schools with (a) equalities legislation and (b) the schools admission code in their admittance and treatment of children with SEND.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Teachers: Pay

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's press release dated 2 September 2019 entitled £30,000 starting salaries proposed for teachers, whether the increase in starting salaries will be funded through (a) the National Funding Formula and (b) a separate grant.

Nick Gibb: An increase in teachers’ starting salaries to £30,000 by 2022-23, along with increases elsewhere on the rest of the pay framework, will be affordable for schools within the additional funding announced at the Spending Round that will be paid out through the schools National Funding Formula (NFF). This will see an additional £2.6 billion in core schools funding next year, with increases of £4.8 billion and £7.1 billion in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.Pay reform is subject to the School Teacher Review Body (STRB) process and recommendations, but the Department’s assessment of affordability will be part of the evidence provided as part of that process.Funding to support pay increases relating to the 2018 and 2019 pay awards will continue to be invested in the existing Teachers’ Pay Grant in 2020-21. From 2021-22 the Department intends to include this funding within NFF allocations.

Children: Day Care

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children accessing the (a) 15-hours free childcare scheme for three and four-year-olds and (b) 12.5-hours free childcare offer which preceded it in (i) East Hampshire constituency, (ii) Hampshire local authority area and (iii) England in each year since the inception of each offer.

Nick Gibb: The number of 3 and 4-year-old children benefiting from 15 hours funded early education in Hampshire local authority and England are shown in the table below. Data is not published at parliamentary consistency level. The increase from 12.5 hours to 15 hours was rolled out between April 2007 and September 2010. Due to the phased roll-out consistent data is not available for these years. Number of 3 and 4-year-old children benefiting from 15 hours funded early education 2011-2019 Hampshire local authority and England   HampshireEngland201129,1101,224,470201229,6901,264,420201330,2001,283,500201430,4601,299,910201531,2001,321,900201631,6901,339,430201731,0001,317,660201830,0601,284,630201930,0801,277,140 Source: Early Years Census, School Census, and School Level Annual School Census(1) Count of children aged 3 and 4 at 31 December in the previous calendar year.(2) Any child attending more than one provider will have only been counted once.(3) Includes general hospital schools and excludes pupil referral units.

Children: Day Care

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of children accessing the 15-hours free childcare scheme for disadvantaged two-year-olds in (a) East Hampshire constituency, (b) Hampshire local authority area and (c) England in each year since its inception.

Nick Gibb: The number of 2-year-old children benefiting from funded early education in Hampshire local authority and England are shown in the table below. Data is not published at parliamentary consistency level. Number of 2-year-old children benefiting from funded early education 2014-2019 Hampshire local authority and England  201420152016201720182019Hampshire1,4502,4202,4402,4102,3102,210England86,640157,040166,920163,250154,960148,750 Source: Early Years Census (EYC), School Census (SC), and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC)(1) Count of children aged 2 at 31 December in the previous calendar year.(2) Any child attending more than one provider will have only been counted once.(3) Includes general hospital schools and excludes pupil referral units.

Children: Day Care

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) children and (b) families accessing the 30-hours free childcare scheme in (i) East Hampshire constituency, (ii) Hampshire local authority area and (iii) England in each year since its inception.

Nick Gibb: The number of children benefiting from 30-hours free childcare in Hampshire local authority and England are shown in the table below. Data is not published at parliamentary consistency level. The Department does not hold data on the number of families accessing 30-hours free childcare. Number of children benefiting from extended funded early education 2018-2019 Hampshire local authority and England   20182019Hampshire8,3809,370England296,920328,130 Source: Early Years Census (EYC), School Census (SC), and School Level Annual School Census (SLASC)(1) Count of children aged 3 and 4 at 31 December in the previous calendar year. In September 2017, the government doubled the funded early education entitlement for 3- and 4-year-olds from working families who meet the eligibility criteria to 30 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year (or 1,140 hours a year over no fewer than 38 weeks of the year). This is referred to as the extended funded early education entitlement.(2) Any child attending more than one provider will have only been counted once.(3) Includes general hospital schools and excludes pupil referral units.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to respond to the call for evidence on Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools, (BB100).

Nick Gibb: The Department is currently analysing the responses to the Call for Evidence on 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools'. As part of this exercise, meetings with key stakeholders are ongoing. The Department expects to be able to share a formal response during the autumn term.

Children in Care: Criminal Proceedings

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will take steps to change reporting on criminalisation data on children in care to all children in care and not just children who were in care for at least 12 months.

Michelle Donelan: The 12 month period is considered an appropriate length of time to gauge an association between the outcome (whether that be education, health, wellbeing or criminalisation) and care status.Furthermore, in certain circumstances, children can become looked-after as a direct result of criminal justice decisions, for example, when remanded to local authority accommodation following arrest.

Schools: Fire Prevention

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will undertake an independent evaluation on what the evidential basis is for his Department's proposed test standard of BS 7176 for school noticeboards and if he will publish the results of that evaluation.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to notify local education authorities and other approved education providers of their duties under the ESFA Output Specification Annex 3 Section 7.1.1.5  relating to fire standards and school notice boards.

Nick Gibb: The Department is currently working with independent testing houses on developing and assessing the protocols for meeting the proposed British Standard for specifying noticeboards in schools. The Department will, in due course, issue a short note to responsible bodies on these new standards, which will also be included in the updated 'Building Bulletin 100: Design for Fire Safety in Schools' in 2020.The Department’s output specification is primarily for use in setting construction and design standards for centrally delivered school building projects and is not a statutory guidance document. This specification is available to other responsible bodies in support of any school building construction activities.

Secondary Education: Surrey

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to ensure an adequate number of places at secondary schools in Surrey.

Nick Gibb: Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child. The Department provides basic need funding for every place that is needed, based on local authorities’ own data on pupil forecasts. Surrey has been allocated £287.4 million to provide new school places from 2011-21. This funding is not ringfenced, allowing local authorities greater flexibility to make decisions that are best for their local area.There is currently one mainstream secondary free school, one specialist maths free school, and two special free schools with secondary provision in the pre-opening phase in Surrey. The Department is currently working with proposer groups to establish these new schools as soon as possible.The current Spending Review settlement covers capital budgets until 2021. Capital funding for education beyond the current period will be agreed as part of the next Spending Review, where the Department will have the opportunity to discuss capital funding for education in the round and to consider how we can best support the sector.

Apprentices: Taxation

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much apprenticeship levy was paid by levy employers in (a) May 2017 and expired in May 2019, (b) June 2017 and expired in June 2019, (c) July 2017 and expired in July 2019 and (d) August 2017 and expired in August 2019 because the funds had not been used.

Michelle Donelan: The apprenticeship levy is collected by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC). The amount of apprenticeship levy paid by employers each month is published by HMRC at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/hmrc-tax-and-nics-receipts-for-the-uk.Employers in England are able to access their levy funds through their apprenticeship service account. The amount of funds expiring in employers’ apprenticeship service accounts in May 2019 was £11 million; in June 2019 it was £26 million; in July 2019 it was £44 million; and in August 2019 it was £52 million.Employers’ levy funds are distinct from the Department for Education’s ring-fenced annual apprenticeship budget. The Department for Education’s budget is set on an annual basis to cover the costs of all apprenticeships: new apprenticeships in both levy-paying employers, and those that do not pay the levy, and existing apprenticeships for those who started in previous years. This budget is distinct from the funds in employers’ levy funds in their apprenticeship service accounts and is not affected by the value of levy funds expiring from employers’ accounts each month.

Schools: Admissions

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons children subject to Special Guardianship Orders do not benefit from the same rights of preferential access to schools currently enjoyed by children in care and adopted children; and if he will make a statement.

Michelle Donelan: Looked-after children are amongst the most vulnerable in our society and, wherever possible, they should be admitted to the school which is most able to meet their needs.That is why the School Admissions Code requires the admissions authorities of all schools, including academies, to give highest priority in their admissions criteria to looked-after children and previously looked-after children. This includes children who are subject to child arrangements orders and special guardianship orders.

Special Guardianship Orders

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many Special Guardianship Orders have been (a) initiated and (b) terminated in each of the last ten years; and how many and what proportion of children subject to those Special Guardianship Orders have been placed with grandparents.

Michelle Donelan: Figures on the number of looked-after children who were made the subject of a Special Guardianship order during the year in each of the last 5 years are published in Tables D1 and E5 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018. Figures for earlier years are published in table D1 in previous releases Statistics: looked-after children - GOV.UK. Regarding details on whether the guardians are grandparents, this information is not held centrally.Regarding details on whether a special guardianship is terminated, this information is not held centrally and is not collected. Figures on the number of children starting to be looked-after, having previously been the subject of a special guardianship order, are published in Table C1 of the statistical release ‘Children looked after in England including adoption: 2017 to 2018’ at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/children-looked-after-in-england-including-adoption-2017-to-2018, These figures have only been collected since 2014-15 and caution should be used when interpreting this data as there is a high proportion of unknowns.

Special Guardianship Orders

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proposals he has for reforming Special Guardianship Orders.

Michelle Donelan: The Adoption and Special Guardianship Leadership Board was established to provide leadership to the system and drive improvements. The board is currently undertaking a piece of work called the Adoption & Special Guardianship Support Blueprint. This will set out what a good quality support service would look like, based on the best practice from around the country.

Frontline

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of students participating in the Frontline programme graduated with a diploma or Masters degree in each year since that programme has been in operation.

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many graduates of the Frontline programme have been placed into social work positions in each year since the first cohort of that programme graduated.

Michelle Donelan: The number and proportion of Frontline participants graduating with a postgraduate diploma or master’s degree, and the number of Frontline graduates placed into social work positions in each year of the programme are in the table attached.These figures are based on currently completed exam boards. The 2017 cohort has yet to complete this process.



290559_290561_Table
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Graduates: Archaeology

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students have graduated with archaeology-based degrees in each of the last ten years.

Chris Skidmore: The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects and publishes statistics on enrolments and qualifications obtained at UK Higher Education Institutions. Latest statistics refer to the academic year 2017/18. Statistics on qualifications obtained by subject areas are available in Table 19 of their Open Data pages: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-19. The number of first-degree qualifiers from archaeology-based subjects has been provided in the table. Academic yearForensic & Archaeological SciencesArchaeologyCombined Total2008/091,7109052,6152009/101,7108802,5902010/111,7559002,6552011/121,9409202,8602012/131,8909002,7902013/141,9209052,8252014/151,5707502,3202015/161,6408702,5102016/171,6458152,4602017/181,6508302,480  Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents. Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course. Qualifiers in archaeology-based subjects have been defined using the principal categories V4 and F4 of the Joint Academic Coding System (JACS), which are ‘Forensic and Archaeological Sciences’ and ‘Archaeology’. More information on JACS codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/jacs.

Archaeology: High Speed Two Railway Line

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Transport on the number of qualified archaeologists required for the construction of High Speed Two.

Chris Skidmore: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education meets his counterparts and officials from other government departments regularly to discuss the Department for Education agenda.

Wakefield City Academies Trust: Deloitte and Touche

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 31 July 2019 to Question 280190, how much does he expect to pay Deloitte for services in relation to Wakefield City Academies Trust.

Nick Gibb: I refer the hon. Member for Wakefield to the answer I gave on 31 July 2019 to 280190.

Schools: Garston and Halewood

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of the National Funding Formula on (a) the number of school places, (b) spending per pupil, (c) school spending reserves and (d) the sustainability of school funding in Garston and Halewood constituency.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 04 October 2019



Local authorities are under a statutory duty to ensure that there is a school place available for every child. The Department provides local authorities with basic need funding for every new place that is needed, based on local authorities’ own data on pupil forecasts. They can use this funding to provide places in new schools or through expansions of existing schools, and can work with any school in their local area, including academies and free schools. Liverpool has been allocated £56.6 million to provide new school places from 2011-21, and Knowsley has been allocated £3 million.The Department trusts schools to manage their own budgets and the vast majority are operating with a cumulative surplus, with only a small percentage having a deficit. The Department will be publishing data on maintained school reserves in 2018-19 in October, following the introduction of the national funding formulae. 2018-19 data on academy reserves will be published next spring.On Friday 30 August, the Department announced a three-year settlement which will provide a total increase in funding of over £14 billion over the next three years, including an additional £7.1 billion in 2022-23, bringing the core schools’ budget in that year to £52.2 billion. This means we can ‘level up’ school funding by raising the minimum per pupil funding for secondary schools to £5,000 next year, and the minimum per pupil funding for primary schools to £3,750 in 2020-21 and £4,000 in 2021-22.Overall, school funding is increasing significantly by 5% and the Department is increasing funding for the lowest-funded schools even faster. In addition, the Department are providing for an increase in per pupil funding at least in line with inflation for every school in England next year, with most schools attracting real terms increases.This funding announcement means further increases for every school in Garston and Halewood over the next three years. The Department will be publishing school-level details in October.

Children in Care: Criminal Proceedings

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if his Department will publish data on rates of criminalisation among looked after young people by type of care placement in its annual report, Children looked after in England including adoption.

Michelle Donelan: We review the content of the ‘Children looked after in England (including adoption)’ statistical release annually. We will consider any new content to the release in due course.

School Exclusions Review

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson review of school exclusion: Government response, published in May 2019, what progress his Department has made on establishing the practice programme to embed effective partnership working to better equip schools to intervene early for children at risk of exclusion.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

School Exclusions Review

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson review of school exclusion: Government response, published in May 2019, what progress his Department has made on providing guidance on the use of in-school units and managed moves; and what the timetable is for his Department's consultation on that guidance.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

School Exclusions Review

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the Timpson review of school exclusions, when his Department plans to issue updated guidance on school exclusions to schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department for Education has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Literacy: Dudley

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to increase literacy rates of primary school students from lower income households in Dudley.

Nick Gibb: The Government is committed to continuing to raise literacy standards – ensuring all children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, can read fluently and with understanding.The Department introduced the light touch phonics screening check for Year 1 pupils in 2012. The check is designed to assess pupils’ ability to decode and read words using phonics. Phonics performance is improving, with 82% of pupils meeting the expected standard this year, compared to 58% when the check was introduced. Mastering phonics, which provides a solid foundation for reading means these pupils will be able to go on to apply these skills in more advanced ways. In 2018, the Department launched a £26.3 million English Hubs Programme. The Department has appointed 34 primary schools across England as English Hubs. The English Hub programme is supporting nearly 3000 schools across England to improve their teaching of reading through systematic synthetic phonics, early language development, and reading for pleasure. The English Hubs are focused on improving educational outcomes for the most disadvantaged pupils in Reception and Year 1. St John Bosco English Hub engaged with nine schools in Dudley in the last academic year. It aims to support 85 schools in its local area, which covers Dudley as well as other constituencies.

Foster Care

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that routine decision making for a foster child is delegated to their carers as set out in The Children Act 1989, Guidance and Regulations: Section 3.188 which was revised in 2013.

Michelle Donelan: The regulations and statutory guidance are clear that day-to-day decisions should be delegated to foster parents. Any exceptions to this should be clearly stated in the child’s care plan. However, we acknowledge that practice does not always follow guidance.In the report ‘Fostering Better Outcomes (2018)’, we committed to empowering and supporting foster parents. We are commissioning research to identify excellent practice, including how decisions are delegated. This will inform the creation of a network of Fostering Trailblazers which we will use to share best practice, innovation and learning with the sector in order to encourage sector-led improvements in practice.

Sex and Relationship Education: Home Education

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure children who are educated outside the school setting can access Relationships, Health and Sex Education (RSE).

Nick Gibb: The requirement to teach the new subjects of relationships education at primary level and relationships and sex education at secondary level will apply to maintained schools. This applies to maintained special schools; academy schools and academy special schools; independent schools, including independent special schools; and pupil referral units and non-maintained special schools.Health education at primary and secondary levels will apply to all schools that will be required to teach relationships education and relationships and sex education (RSE) except independent schools. Independent schools are already required to teach personal, social, health and economic education.Other schools are encouraged to teach all or part of the content of the guidance on relationships, sex and health education as they deem appropriate in meeting the needs of their pupils.

Foster Care: Vacancies

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of shortages of foster carers by region.

Michelle Donelan: The information requested is not held centrally as the department does not collect information on the number of foster carers.Ofsted advise that they do not collect data on the number of foster carers by region. The official Ofsted fostering statistics provide the number of vacant fostering places as at 31 March but not the number of places that a region needs but does not have. The data on vacant fostering places is published at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/fostering-in-england-1-april-2017-to-31-march-2018/fostering-in-england-2017-to-2018-main-findings.

Foster Care: Recruitment

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to share innovative practices in foster carer recruitment among local authorities.

Michelle Donelan: As set out in ‘Fostering Better Outcomes (2018)’, we are providing seed funding for feasibility studies in commissioning and sufficiency planning, bringing together local authorities with their partners to explore innovative practices, including collaborative approaches to foster care recruitment.In addition, the department is also commissioning research on applying behavioural insight approaches to the recruitment of prospective foster carers and adopters. We will use this research to support the sector in developing evidence-based recruitment approaches.

Children: Social Services

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when a new children’s commissioner will be appointed to the Northamptonshire children’s social services department.

Michelle Donelan: Nothing is more important than keeping children safe. Last year, we took swift action to put in place a Commissioner and a package of support to address serious failings in Northamptonshire’s children social services.We are making good progress with the creation of a new children’s services trust and are grateful to the current commissioner Malcolm Newsam for his role in transforming these services. We will shortly be appointing a new children’s commissioner in Northamptonshire before the current commissioner Malcom Newsam leaves the role.

GCE A-Level: Wales

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the good comparative attainment of Welsh A-level students in 2019, what plans he has to commission a lessons learned review of education in England.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 03 October 2019



The Department has reformed A levels in England to improve students’ readiness for the demands of higher education. The Department has no plans to review comparative attainment in Wales and England. Education is a devolved matter, and it is for the Welsh government and Qualifications Wales to determine standards in Wales.

Social Media: Education

Ian Blackford: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure young people are being appropriately educated on safe use of social media to prevent violent language and violent acts becoming the norm in society.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 03 October 2019



From September 2020, relationships education will be compulsory for all primary aged pupils, Relationships and Sex Education will be compulsory for all secondary aged pupils and Health Education will be compulsory in all state-funded schools in England. Through these new subjects, teachers will address online safety and appropriate behaviour in an age appropriate way. The guidance is clear that violence is never acceptable. The guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/relationships-education-relationships-and-sex-education-rse-and-health-education. This will complement the computing curriculum, which covers the principles of online safety at all key stages, with progression in the content to reflect the different and escalating risks that pupils face. This includes how to use technology safely, responsibly, respectfully and securely, and where to go for help and support when they have concerns about content or contact on the internet or other online technologies.There are other curriculum subjects which include content relevant to teaching pupils how to use the internet safely. For example, citizenship education covers media literacy, distinguishing fact from opinion, and the role and responsibility of the media in informing and shaping public opinion.The Department has also published non-statutory guidance, ‘Teaching Online Safety’ in schools. This outlines how schools can ensure their pupils understand how to stay safe and behave online, as part of these existing curriculum requirements. The guidance is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

National Vocational Qualifications

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons his Department's plans to publish Progress 8 data do not include key data on BTEC Level 2 qualifications; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 03 October 2019



The Government has not changed its policy in this area. The Department can confirm that those BTEC Level 2 qualifications which are on the Key Stage 4 approved list of qualifications will be included in the 2019 provisional Key Stage 4 data scheduled to be published on 17 October 2019.

Schools: Advertising

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the cost to the public purse has been on advertising in schools in relation to the UK leaving the EU in the last six months.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 03 October 2019



The Department for Education has not spent any money on advertising in schools in relation to the UK leaving the EU in the last 6 months. The Department is providing its own guidance to the education sectors that it serves, via published information on GOV.UK, support through existing networks and otherwise through the normal conduct of the day-to-day business of the Government.

Teachers: Pay

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the cost to schools of increasing starting salaries for teachers to £30,000.

Nick Gibb: Holding answer received on 03 October 2019



On 2 September 2019 the Department announced plans to raise starting salaries for teachers to £30,000 by 2022 (plus London weighting). This proposal is fully affordable in the spending settlement announced last week across the next three years. The Department’s full costed proposals will be included in our written evidence to the School Teachers’ Review Body in the coming months as part of the usual process.

Ministry of Justice

Sentencing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment the Government makes of the effectiveness of sentences for criminal offences prosecuted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Chris Philp: In August the Prime Minister announced an urgent review of sentencing. This has been an internal review which has focused on the sentencing for the most serious violent and sexual offenders and the rules governing when and how those offenders are released. We have also, as part of this review, looked at changes to sentencing for the most prolific offenders which could help break the cycle of reoffending. Based on the findings of the review, we will be bringing forward proposals shortly for a comprehensive package of legislative reform. This will include amending the automatic release point for the most serious sexual and violent offenders.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Multiple Occupation: Planning

Jack Lopresti: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of local authorities using the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995 Article 4 powers to restrict the number of Houses in Multiple Occupation in defined areas.

Esther McVey: Under a national permitted development right, a private house is able to change use to a House in Multiple Occupation for up to six people sharing facilities without the need for a planning application. Change of use to a larger House in Multiple Occupation requires an application for planning permission.Where there is sufficient evidence that it is necessary to protect local amenity or the wellbeing of a specific area, a local planning authority may withdraw a permitted development right using an Article 4 direction. This would mean any change of use to a House in Multiple Occupation for up to six people sharing facilities would also require an application for planning permission. It will be for the local planning authority to consult on and consider the merits of such an approach, using local evidence on a case by case basis.

Building Research Establishment: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if his Department will publish a full report on the tests undertaken by the Building Research Establishment on behalf of his Department.

Esther McVey: Acting on advice from the Expert Panel, the government has commissioned research from the Building Research Establishment to support further understanding of the fire performance of non-Aluminium Composite Material external wall systems. The materials being tested include zinc and copper composite materials; aluminium honeycomb panels; high pressure laminate panels; brick slip systems; and reconstituted stone. This programme began in April 2019 and the preliminary testing concluded in the Summer. This is now in an analysis phase and the research findings will be published in Autumn.

High Rise Flats: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, in light of recent fires involving timber construction materials, whether his Department plans to issue an advice note on the use of timber on the external walls of high-rise buildings.

Esther McVey: The Department publishes Advice Notes based on advice of the Independent Expert Advisory Panel. The Department has published guidance to reiterate the importance of building owners assessing their buildings and ensuring that non-Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding (which includes timber systems) are safe. Advice Note 14, published in 2017 and updated in December 2018, reiterates that the clearest way to ensure safety is to remove unsafe materials. This can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/765761/Expert_Panel_advice_note_on_non-ACM.pdfThe Department has commissioned the Building Research Establishment to undertake bespoke medium scale tests on timber cladding panels as part of the ongoing non-Aluminium Composite Material research. We currently have no plans to publish an advice note specifically on the use of timber on the external walls of high risk buildings.

Housing Associations: Standards

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether his Department plans to regulate housing associations to ensure (a) better managements of estates, (b) improved customer service and (c) more transparency on housing service charges.

Esther McVey: The Social Housing Green Paper published in August 2018 sets out proposals for a new, fairer deal for tenants to ensure that homes are safe and decent, that residents are treated with dignity and respect and that we have the social housing we need for the future.Alongside the Green Paper, the government launched an in-depth review of the regulation of social housing to ensure it remains fit for purpose, reflects changes in the social housing sector and drives a focus on delivering a good service for tenants. We will publish the results of the Green Paper and review of regulation in due course.The government believes that service charges should be transparent, communicated effectively and there should be a clear route to challenge or redress for tenants and leaseholders if things go wrong. Lord Best’s Regulation of Property Agents working group, which reported on 18 July, considered how fees such as service charges should be presented to consumers, and whether some fees should be limited. We are considering their recommendations carefully and will announce next steps in due course.

Help to Buy Scheme: East Hampshire

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many homes have been purchased through the Help to Buy scheme in the East Hampshire constituency in each of the last six years.

Esther McVey: The number of homes purchased each year through Help to Buy: Equity Loan in the local authority district of East Hampshire are:2013-14 522014-15 1082015-16 982016-17 672017-18 2162018-19 258Total 799These can be viewed in the government official statistics, published quarterly, at ‘Help to Buy Tables’ then ‘Table 1 – LA’ at line 208:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-statistics-april-2013-to-31-march-2019-englandThe government’s official statistics published each quarter cover local authorities, but not constituencies.

Housing Ombudsman Service: Public Appointments

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many applicants were interviewed for the post of Housing Ombudsman.

Esther McVey: The Department received 19 applications for the post of Housing Ombudsman; of which 5 were shortlisted for interview by the Advisory Assessment Panel.

Department for Work and Pensions

Motability

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that previous claimants of the motability component under disability living allowance who have had their entitlement to the motability component removed under personal independence payments do not have their motability car removed while awaiting an appeal.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department worked closely with Motability to design an extensive £175 million Transitional Support Package for those who are no longer eligible for the Motability scheme following reassessment from DLA to PIP. Motability allow eligible claimants to retain their vehicle for up to eight-weeks after DLA payment end and offer £2,000 for those who joined before 2013, or £1,000 for those joining during 2013; or, instead claimants may opt to extend their lease for 26 weeks after the DLA payments end (or until a decision on their appeal is heard) and receive a smaller lump sum payment: £500 for those who joined before 2013, or £250 for those who joined during 2013. For those who are appealing their decision following reassessment, Motability have confirmed in a letter to the Work and Pensions Select Committee that “if a customer has opted for the 26-week retention period and Motability is satisfied that they are actively progressing an appeal, a discretionary extension to the handback period can be granted.”

Personal Independence Payment: Motability

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will take steps to extend the six months grace period that claimants of personal independence payments have while awaiting an appeal on a decision to remove their entitlement to the motability component.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department worked closely with Motability to design an extensive £175 million Transitional Support Package for those who are no longer eligible for the Motability scheme following reassessment from DLA to PIP.Motability allow eligible claimants who joined the Scheme before 2014 to opt to extend their lease for 26 weeks after the DLA payments end (or until a decision on their appeal is heard) and receive a smaller lump sum payment. For those who are appealing their decision following reassessment, Motability have confirmed in a letter to the Work and Pensions Select Committee that “if a customer has opted for the 26-week retention period and Motability is satisfied that they are actively progressing an appeal, a discretionary extension to the handback period can be granted.” Those joining the scheme after 2014 and who subsequently lose eligibility for their Motability vehicle will receive a £1000 stopped allowance support payment from Motability.

Personal Independence Payment: Motability

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have (a) had their motability cars removed before a personal independence payments appeal hearing and (b) subsequently had their entitlement reinstated post-appeal in the Garston and Halewood constituency in each year since April 2013.

Justin Tomlinson: The two respective parts of this question are being interpreted as referring to cases in the Garston and Halewood constituency, since April 2013, where individuals experienced the following sequence of events: a) The number of individuals in receipt of the higher rate mobility component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA), and specifically using this for the Motability Scheme, that then underwent a Reassessment from DLA to Personal Independence Payment (PIP) where their PIP initial decision did not award them the enhanced rate mobility component, which therefore meant they were no longer eligible for the Motability Scheme. b) The number of individuals from Part A that subsequently proceeded to lodge an appeal against the initial decision made at their Reassessment, and upon completing the appeal they saw the decision overturned where the post-appeal PIP award specifically included the enhanced rate mobility component, thus seeing them once again entitled to the Motability Scheme. Information on the number of these cases could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Redundancy: Brexit

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans her Department has to prepare for potential jobs losses in the event the UK leaves the EU without a negotiated withdrawal agreement.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option. The Government is, however, continuing to plan for a range of scenarios, including a no deal exit from the EU. These contingencies ensure that DWP can continue to provide our vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access DWP benefits and services on the same basis as they do now. The labour market remains resilient and our employment rate is at a joint record high, but we need to be prepared for changing circumstances, including potential economic impacts of different EU Exit scenarios as well as impacts not related to EU Exit. DWP is working across Government to build the most up to date picture of the labour market, using all available information. We are committed to helping everyone access fulfilling work while ensuring vulnerable people get the support they need, and leaving the EU on October 31 will not change that.

Disability: Pay

Daniel Zeichner: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Trades Union Congress's report entitled TUC calls on Government to make employers report their disability pay gap, what steps her Department has taken to address the disability pay gap.

Justin Tomlinson: The government published the voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental ill health and wellbeing in November 2018.This is aimed at large employers (over 250 employees) and it is recommended that they publically report on the pay and progression of disabled people at regular intervals. It can also be used to support smaller employers who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation or industry.

Social Security Benefits

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will place in the Library (a) information for each of the benefits in respect to which Kofax Capture software is used and (b) the indexing business rules for each of those benefits.

Mims Davies: The following benefits use KOFAX: ESA, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, DLA 65 Plus, DLA Child, Social Fund, Retirement Pension, International Pensions, Carers Allowance, Pension Credit, Maternity Allowance, Industrial Injuries Disability Benefit, Bereavement Benefit, I have attached a digital copy of the Index Business Rules which will be placed in the House of Commons Library.



Index Business Rules
(Excel SpreadSheet, 1.12 MB)

Personal Independence Payment

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average time taken was to process a mandatory reconsideration for personal independence payment in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the maximum time taken was to process a mandatory reconsideration for personal independence payment in the last 12 months for which information is available.

Justin Tomlinson: Statistics on the median clearance times for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) Mandatory Reconsiderations (MR) are provided in Tables 7C-E of the “Personal Independence Payment: April 2013 to July 2019” publication, available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-april-2013-to-july-2019  Information about the extremes of a distribution (e.g. the maximum clearance times) does potentially risk leading to the identification of the claimant. We would not release this information publicly. Therefore, we have presented information on the upper quartile of clearance times. For the 12 months from August 2018 to end of July 2019, for Great Britain the upper quartile was 68 calendar days, with a median of 49 days as published.

Access to Work Programme

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will publish details of Access to Work spending by region.

Justin Tomlinson: Please see attached excel file. Here you will find Access to Work spending by region consistent with the published Access to Work statistics.



AtW Expenditure Regional Breakdown
(Excel SpreadSheet, 17.58 KB)

Disability: Pay

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department has taken to tackle the disability pay gap in the last 12 months.

Justin Tomlinson: This Government is committed to providing targeted support for people so that everyone is given the very best chance of getting into and then thriving in work.From April 2019, Jobcentre Plus introduced an enhanced Disability Employment Adviser and a new Disability Employment Adviser Leader role, in total more than 800 individuals supporting Jobcentre colleagues to provide high quality services to disabled people and those with health conditions. One of the key transformational elements of Universal Credit is that it provides us with the opportunity to support people who are in work to progress and increase their earnings. Using an Innovation Fund funded by DWP, DHSC, and NHS England we are testing initiatives to support disabled people and those with health conditions to get into, and then remain in, work. The government published the voluntary reporting framework on disability, mental ill health and wellbeing in November 2018.This is aimed at large employers (over 250 employees) and it is recommended that they publically report on the pay and progression of disabled people at regular intervals. It can also be used to support smaller employers who are keen to drive greater transparency in their organisation or industry.

Access to Work Programme

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) how many and (b) what proportion of disabled adults of working age in (i) England, (ii) Wales and (iii) Scotland received support from the Access to Work grant scheme in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: When considering your questions, it should be noted that those that use the Access to Work scheme are not a direct subset of the disabled adults of working age. Robust proportions cannot be estimated by simply dividing figures for Access to Work by figures for number of disabled adults of working age. This is because the data would come from different data sources and are different data types. To be eligible for Access to Work a person must be 16 or older, there is no upper age limit to eligibility therefore some people who receive Access to Work will not be considered working age (16-64 years old). Also Access to Work is available to those that have a disability or health condition (physical or mental) that makes it hard for them to do parts of their job or get to and from work therefore covers a broad range of people not just those who identify themselves as ‘disabled’. When answering your question, we have interpreted ‘received support’ as received a payment. The number of people who received a payment from Access to Work for each financial year can be found in Table 8 of the annual Access to Work Statistics publication. Table 8 shows the number of people who received a payment for any Access to Work provision by various customer characteristics including by region. The latest Access to Work statistics can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/access-to-work-statistics-april-2007-to-march-2019 Please note, number of people for each region is based on residency of the beneficiary as opposed to place of work. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10.

Department for Work and Pensions: Disability and Health

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many employees left employment in her Department due to (a) disability and (b) long-term health conditions in (i) 2016, (ii) 2017 and (iii) 2018.

Mims Davies: The table below shows numbers of ill health retirements over the period requested.  Ill Health RetirementsYear endingAll leaversNo of People leaving on health reasonsDec-1610,014174Dec-176,998129Dec-186,754126

Low incomes: Food

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the implications for her policies of the Sustain Alliance’s report entitled, Brexit food resilience for the people who need it most; and what steps her Department has taken to establish a hardship fund to ensure that vulnerable people are not affected by the disruption highlighted in (a) that report and (b) Operation Yellowhammer.

Hugh Gaffney: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment she has made of the effect on food poverty levels of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Neil Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps her Department is taking to prevent food insecurity after the UK leaves the EU.

Justin Tomlinson: The Government has been clear that leaving the EU with a deal is its preferred option. The Government has put in place contingency plans for a range of exit scenarios. These contingencies ensure that DWP can continue to provide our vital services and that individuals will continue to be able to access DWP benefits and services on the same basis as they do now. The Government is committed to providing a strong safety-net through the welfare system. We continue to spend over £95 billion a year on benefits for people of working age. DWP continues to monitor the effects of EU exit on the economy. Rates of benefits continue to be reviewed in line with the relevant legislation for uprating.

Social security Benefits: Special Educational Needs

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she is taking to ensure that young people with SEND who are (a) in full-time further education and (b) aged 20 or above have sufficient financial support to complete their studies.

Justin Tomlinson: The Department for Education will be investing over £700 million in additional high needs funding to support young people with complex special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in education. This represents an increase of over 11% on the funding available this year, bringing the total high needs funding budget to over £7 billion. Every local authority will see a minimum increase of 8% per head of 2 to 18 population to their high needs funding. The Department for Education will provide provisional allocations for individual local authorities in October.A disabled student determined to have Limited Capability for Work (Work Related Activity Group) or Limited Capability for Work Related Activity (Support Group), in receipt of PIP/DLA, who has moved from Employment and Support Allowance to Universal Credit following a change in circumstances, with no break in their claim will meet the criteria to receive Universal Credit. A person requiring financial support is able to claim Universal Credit alongside their PIP/DLA payments.

Occupational Pensions: Kilmarnock and Loudoun

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of people in Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency who have (a) opted out after being auto-enrolled into a workplace pension and (b) saved more than the auto-enrolment minimum contribution.

Guy Opperman: Automatic enrolment has achieved a quiet revolution through getting employees into the habit of pension saving, and reversing the decline in workplace pension participation in the decade prior to these reforms. Since automatic enrolment started in 2012 participation rates have been transformed with 87% of eligible employees saving into a workplace pension in 2018, up from 55% in 2012. The Department does not hold data for individual constituencies in relation to opt outs or the number of individuals who have saved above the automatic enrolment minimum contribution level. However, we do know that overall around 9% of automatically enrolled workers have chosen to opt out which is significantly below original estimates; and our latest evaluation report shows that, in April 2017, approximately 5.9 million eligible employees were already meeting the April 2019 minimum contribution rates[1].I am providing the following information about the impact of automatic enrolment in your constituency, as of August 2019.In the Kilmarnock and Loudoun constituency, since 2012, approximately 6,000 eligible jobholders have been automatically enrolled and 1,290 employers have met their duties. [1]Automatic Enrolment Evaluation Report 2018, available via the following weblink:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/764964/Automatic_Enrolment_Evaluation_Report_2018.pdf.

Department for Work and Pensions: Travel

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2017.

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on ministerial travel by (a) first class, (b) second class and (c) in total in 2018.

Mims Davies: The information requested can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. However, the Government publishes data on ministerial overseas travel on a quarterly basis in arrears on GOV.UK. Links to this information for 2017 and 2018 can be found below. Jan 17 – Mar 17https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/623402/ministers-overseas-travel-jan-mar-2017.ods Apr 17 – Jun 17https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/651138/ministers-overseas-travel-apr-jun-2017.ods Jul 17 – Sep 17https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/666399/dwp-ministers-overseas-travel-jul-sep-2017.csv/preview Oct 17 – Dec 17https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/693210/dwp-ministers-travel-oct-dec-17.csv/preview Jan 18 – Mar 18https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/751896/ministers-overseas-travel-jan-mar-2018.csv/preview Apr 18 – Jun 18https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/750512/dwp-ministers-travel-apr-jun-2018.csv/preview Jul 18 – Sep 18https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/763723/dwp-ministers-travel-jul-sep-2018.csv/preview Oct 18 – Dec 18https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/786896/dwp-ministers-travel-oct-dec-2018.csv/preview

Department for Work and Pensions: Official Hospitality

Ruth Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much her Department spent on refreshments in (a) 2017 and (b) 2018.

Mims Davies: The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Veterinary Medicine

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the number of vets that will be required at ports and airports to issue export health certificates in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal; and how many vets are currently available.

George Eustice: Exporters are required to have certified Export Health Certificates before goods leave the approved premises, therefore we do not anticipate any need for additional certifying officers at UK borders.To date, over 1000 vets are registered as official veterinarians that can certify Export Health Certificates – an increase of around 60% since February 2019. We have put in place a number of measures to increase certifier capacity, including introducing a new certification support officer role to assist certifiers in collating the evidence needed, as well as providing free training for vets.

Agriculture

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she will take to ensure adequate supplies of (a) animal feed, (b) fertilisers and (c) other crop treatments which cannot be stockpiled in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: We are in regular dialogue with the farming unions, processors and allied industries about the availability of animal feed and other supplies in the event of a no deal.In 2017, the UK produced 13.9 million tonnes of animal feed. Included in this amount was 3.9 million tonnes of ingredients imported from third countries and 2.2 million tonnes from the EU. This would suggest that the sector is less dependent on imports from the EU. However, we will continue to monitor the markets in order to determine the impact of our leaving the EU on prices and supply.In preparations for no deal, the Government has taken steps to secure additional freight capacity, guaranteeing the supply of critical goods.Existing EU regulations for marketing fertilisers will be converted into UK law in the event of a no deal withdrawal. Products sold as EC fertilisers can be sold in the UK with the same packaging for two years as long as they continue to comply with the EU regulations. This system has been developed to ensure continuity of supply of fertiliser imports from the EU to the UK farming industry. The information has been published in a guidance document available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/manufacturing-and-marketing-fertilisers-if-there-is-no-brexit-dealThe UK is a net importer of fertilisers, and therefore a valuable market for exports from other countries. We are expecting the supply of fertilisers to remain consistent and to continue to use trading routes which do not include the port of Dover. We will continue to look at all likely EU withdrawal scenarios with a view to limiting consequential impacts on the supply chain and trade.In the event of no deal, the same pesticide products will continue to be authorised for use in the UK immediately after departure.After withdrawal, businesses trading with the EU will broadly be subject to customs controls in the same way as businesses who are trading with the rest of the world. HMRC has announced that a number of temporary easements are in place to help businesses make this transition, including measures to simplify tariffs and customs declarations.

Agricultural Products: Prices

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2017 to Question 118331, what progress has been made on the programme of analytical work into understanding how withdrawal from the EU will affect the UK; and if she will publish the interim findings of that work.

George Eustice: This analysis only applies to England as agricultural policy is devolved. As part of our preparations to leave the EU, we have carried out a rigorous programme of analytical work that has assessed the impact of various EU exit scenarios on the UK farming sector. Part of that programme has included modelling work co-funded by the four UK agricultural departments. In August 2017, the Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI-UK) published this analysis in the report “Impacts of Alternative Post-Brexit Trade Agreements on UK Agriculture: Sector Analyses Using the FAPRI-UK Model”. It considers the impact of different trading scenarios on many farming commodity sectors. The full report is available on the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute website here:https://www.afbini.gov.uk/sites/afbini.gov.uk/files/publications/FAPRI-UK%20Brexit%20Report%20-%20FINAL%20Clean.pdf In addition, the evidence and analysis paper which accompanied the publication of the Agriculture Bill (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-future-for-food-farming-and-the-environment-policy-statement-2018) provides analysis of the various ways farmers are likely to be affected by the movement from the area based payments of the Common Agricultural Policy to being rewarded for the public goods they produce under Environmental Land Management.

Food

Andrea Jenkyns: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to (a) protect and (b) recognise local products after the UK leaves the EU.

George Eustice: Local food and drink products that possess qualities related to their geographical origin are currently protected throughout the EU by the EU’s geographical indication (GI) schemes. UK GI products such as Yorkshire Forced Rhubarb, Welsh Lamb and Scotch Whisky play an important role as exemplars of quality food and drink produce both at home and abroad. The Government is committed to celebrating these products and driving further market access to make sure they are enjoyed around the world. The UK will have new GI schemes on exit and will welcome applications on it.

Animals: Exports

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the NAO report entitled Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Progress in Implementing EU Exit, published on 12 September 2019, what progress her Department has made on creating 1,400 Export Health Certificate versions and agreeing them with non-EU countries.

George Eustice: On 21 December 2018, the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) wrote to third countries outlining our plans for the continued use of existing Export Health Certificates (EHCs) once the UK leaves the EU. The CVO will be writing to third countries again in the near future to reaffirm this position. All Export Health Certificates for exporting to third countries are already available on Gov.uk.

Schools: Pollution Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what mitigation funding is available to schools wanting to reduce the effect of pollution in the surrounding area.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is taking a strong national leadership role to improve air quality and is providing financial and expert support to local authorities to develop innovative plans to tackle local air pollution. The Government’s Air Quality Grant Programme provides funding to local authorities for projects in local communities to reduce emissions which may include action targeting schools. For example, over £3m in Air Quality Grant funding was awarded to local authorities in March 2018 for projects in local communities to tackle air pollution and reduce emissions affecting schools, businesses and residents.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Buckinghamshire

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the environmental impact of planned works in preparation for High Speed Rail 2 around Steeple Claydon in Buckinghamshire.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) is not aware of any current applications for any consents works for this area.The EA determines applications on a technical basis, using information and data to inform judgements. It ensures that the applicant, with the EA’s input, has identified and assessed any potential impacts on the water environment. Any consent issued must contain appropriate conditions to protect against these impacts. An application can be refused on the grounds of unacceptable risk to the environment.With regard to Natural England’s remit, the Phase 1 Environmental statement identified the principal ecological issues in this area as the loss and fragmentation of habitat used by bats; habitat loss and disturbance affecting at a number of local wildlife sites, and fragmentation of habitat used by black hairstreak butterfly habitat. High Speed Rail 2 (HS2) has designed a suite of woodland and other planting to address these impacts although the loss of ancient woodland at Decoypond Wood LWS cannot be fully compensated as ancient woodland is irreplaceable. HS2’s mitigation includes the Sheephouse Wood mitigation structure which will be provided to avoid potential impacts on bats crossing the HS2 corridor adjacent to Sheephouse Wood. Natural England has issued HS2 Ltd a bat licence for works in the Bernwood area.

Plastics: Recycling

Douglas Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on analysing the results of the consultation on introducing a Deposit Return Scheme for plastic drinks containers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Rebecca Pow: A Government summary of responses and next steps was published on 23 July on Gov.uk (https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/introducing-a-deposit-return-scheme-drs-for-drinks-containers-bottles-and-cans).

Bovine Tuberculosis: Disease Control

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department spent from the public purse on the badger cull in each of the last five years.

George Eustice: Bovine TB is one of the greatest animal health threats to the UK and the disease costs the public over £100million a year, with the cost to the farming industry around £50m a year. Badger control costs to Government in each of the last five years are as follows (to the nearest thousand pounds):  20142015201620172018Licensing and compliance monitoring£1,036,000£1,003,000£1,284,000£1,289,000£1,312,000Humaneness monitoring, including post mortems£1,515,000£154,000£392,000£506,000£352,000Efficacy monitoring£17,000£0£0£0£0Advice and assessments£294,000£460,000£646,000£728,000£410,000Other costs, including equipment£205,000£162,000£53,000£49,000£1,000Total£3,067,000£1,779,000£2,375,000£2,572,000£2,075,000 Badger control policing costs to Government in each of the last five years are as follows (to the nearest thousand pounds):  20142015201620172018Policing£1,392,000£1,809,000£3,030,000£4,047,000£3,237,000 Further information can be found on gov.uk at the following link: www.gov.uk/government/publications/bovine-tb-government-badger-control-costs.

Food: Exports

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what guidance her Department has issued to food transport companies on the effect on food quality and safety of delays to freight crossing to and from the EU in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: The Government is working closely with industry to ensure that cross-border activity continues to be conducted in a way which minimises delays and additional burdens for legitimate trade, while robustly ensuring compliance. We have published extensive guidance to enable business to continue to trade with the EU and to plan for any disruption. Bespoke information for direct hauliers who transport food products includes the haulier hand book; the haulier pocket guide; and the no-deal Brexit haulier checklist, all produced in concert with Department for Transport. We have also provided information to refrigerated haulage providers and those who specialise in livestock.

Wildlife: Crime

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to review wildlife crime penalties.

Rebecca Pow: The Government takes wildlife crime seriously. Significant sanctions are available to judges to hand down to those convicted of wildlife crimes. Most wildlife crimes carry a maximum fine of £5,000 and a six-month custodial sentence. We have no plans to amend these penalties.

Natural England: Finance

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans she has to increase the funding to Natural England.

Rebecca Pow: Natural England, like all other Defra sponsored bodies, receives a budget to carry out its duties and responsibilities in line with what is affordable and the Government’s priorities for the natural environment. Natural England has responded to the need to balance public spending and to deploy resources to best effect. Defra’s recent one-year Spending Round settlement for the financial year 2020/21 saw an additional £30 million for terrestrial and marine biodiversity measures, to support the maintenance and restoration of vital habitats for wildlife, progress nature-based solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, and deliver the 25 Year Environment Plan. Government departments will shortly begin planning for a full Spending Review in 2020. Defra will work with Natural England to determine future funding necessary from 2020 to deliver Natural England’s contribution to Government’s ambitions for the environment.

Rivers: Pollution

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to ensure rivers in England will be compliant with water quality standards by 2027.

Rebecca Pow: In 2016, 14% of English rivers assessed under the European Water Framework Directive were in good ecological status. However, all individual indicators tested must be met to achieve this, which masks the actual state of the environment as 76% of the individual indicators tested are at good or better status.Since 2015, over 3,100 miles of surface water have been enhanced to achieve good status and the Environment Agency (EA) has set a target in the Government’s River Basin Management Plans to enhance 5,000 miles by 2021. The 2015 River Basin Management Plans confirmed £3billion worth of investment over six years The latest assessments of rivers will be produced in 2020 and will be used to update the River Basin Management Plans. These updated plans are due to be published at the end of 2021 when it will be possible to forecast progress for 2027.

Pollution Control

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to detect errors in data submitted to the UK Pollutant Release and Transfer Register.

Rebecca Pow: The UK Pollutant Release Transfer Register (PRTR) is reviewed each year. We work closely with regulators and industry representatives to ensure accurate reporting of emissions from industrial sources. The data undergoes substantial quality assurance. Where concerns are raised over data discrepancies we investigate these and correct any errors that may have occurred.

Tritium

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, for what reasons there has been a change to permitted levels of gaseous tritium discharges at former Magnox Nuclear Stations as a result of the operation of the waste encapsulation plants.

Rebecca Pow: The Environment Agency (EA) has been discussing with Magnox Ltd its intention to treat intermediate level waste (ILW) at the Berkeley Site, and at Hinkley Point A, by encapsulating it in concrete boxes. This is to make the waste safe for long term storage, and enable its subsequent disposal.The need to apply for increased tritium limits arises from the heat generated during the encapsulation process driving off some of the tritium within the waste. Magnox Ltd anticipates that this may increase discharges of gaseous tritium above the low limit specified in Berkeley’s current environmental permit. While Magnox plans to apply to the EA to change this limit, the EA has not yet received any application from Magnox to increase the limit for gaseous tritium for this purpose.The EA will only change the permit limit if it is satisfied that this is necessary and that people and the environment remain properly protected.The EA will continue to keep local stakeholders informed of any developments with the Berkeley Site environmental permit, through the local Stakeholder Group.

Farm Inspection and Regulation Review

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the Government plans to publish its response to the Farm Inspection and Regulation Review, published on 13 December 2018.

George Eustice: We welcome the findings of the Farm Inspection and Regulation Review, including the notion of a changed regulatory culture encouraging constructive partnerships between Government and industry and a “shared endeavour” as it sets out. The Government will set out its response in due course.

Carbon Emissions: Standards

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Environmental Audit Committee report, Fixing Fashion: clothing consumption and sustainability, published on 19 February, HC 1952, if she will make an assessment of the recommendations of that report in light of the Government's commitment to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases to net zero by 2050.

Rebecca Pow: The Government will take forward the commitments in our Resources and Waste Strategy to develop the best mix of policy measures to reduce the environmental impacts of clothing. We will take account of the UK’s commitments under the Paris Agreement and Climate Change Act to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing carbon emissions has been a core part of voluntary industry action to date through the Sustainable Clothing Action Plan, supported by Defra, through which signatories have reduced their carbon emissions per tonne of clothing by 11.9% between 2012 and 2017.

Fishing Gear

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what estimate she has made of the amount of abandoned, lost and discarded fishing gear from UK and foreign fishing fleets around the UK coastline.

Rebecca Pow: Abandoned, lost and otherwise discarded fishing gear (ALDFG) is estimated to comprise 40 – 70% of man-made waste in the ocean measured by weight. Ascertaining the extent of the ALDFG that ends up in UK waters faces a number of challenges, including the movement of ALDFG with ocean currents. One of the best indicators is the Marine Conservation Society’s beach clean data, which indicate that fishing-related litter is amongst the ten most prevalent items recorded on UK beaches.

Heathrow Airport

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment she has made of the long-term environmental impacts for the Thames Valley region following the construction of the proposed north-west runway at Heathrow Airport.

Rebecca Pow: Natural England has a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Heathrow Airport Limited (HAL), to provide them with pre-application advice in relation to the proposed airport expansion. The advice being provided to Heathrow is being led and coordinated by the Thames Area Team. The potential impacts from the proposed expansion of Heathrow airport, to the Thames Valley, and the avoidance, mitigation, and compensation measures required to address them, are the focus of Natural England’s detailed advice to HAL. This advice can be broadly categorised into the following: Environmental impacts related to transport emissionsDirect impacts to habitats and speciesImpacts to local and nationally designated landscapesImpacts to public open space and green infrastructure Natural England are working closely with Heathrow Airport Limited to ensure they submit sufficient information as part of their Development Consent Order application, to enable the Secretary of State to take a view as to the environmental impacts of the proposed expansion. Additionally the Environment Agency (EA) has provided a response to HAL’s Preliminary Environmental Information report and continue to be in discussion over their proposals as they form their EA and Statement of Common Ground. The application stage for the Development Consent Order is expected in Autumn 2020. We expect more details about HAL’s proposals to be shared with the EA at this stage which will enable them to make an informed judgement.

Clean Air Zones: Leeds and Birmingham

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, by which date her Department will require Leeds and Birmingham City Councils’ approved Clean Air Zone proposals to be introduced; and for what reason the implementation of those Clean Air Zones was delayed beyond the timetable set out in the Government’s 2015 and 2017 plans for tackling roadside nitrogen dioxide concentrations.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when the national online platform to enable the public to check vehicle compliance with Clean Air Zone emissions standards is scheduled to be fully functioning and available to the public; and for what reasons delivery of this platform by the Government has been delayed.

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that the implementation of Clean Air Zones proposed by English local authorities are not delayed due to the same reasons which have led to Birmingham City Council and Leeds City Council to delay the implementation of their Clean Air Zones.

Rebecca Pow: The delivery of Clean Air Zones (CAZ) involves the provision of a central service by Government and local services by local authorities. Work is underway to develop key components of the central system to support charging CAZs for early 2020, including plans to deliver the vehicle compliance checker by December 2019. We are working closely with both Birmingham and Leeds City Councils, to develop and implement the system in the shortest possible time. Our priority is to introduce a reliable and consistent service as soon as possible and practicable. We are continuing to work with both councils on the detailed timetable for introducing the service, and have provided them with relevant information on the provision of the central service to enable them to proceed to take forward the delivery of the zones. Birmingham City Council have indicated they expect to start charging non-compliant vehicles entering their charging zone from 1 July 2020. Leeds City Council will make a decision over when they will start to charge non-compliant vehicles entering their CAZ in 2020 in due course. These two councils are the first local authorities to bring in charging CAZs. We are continuing to work with other local authorities preparing to introduce CAZs at a later date in order to ensure they are implemented as quickly as possible. This includes sharing the learning and information available to Leeds and Birmingham, and the central systems built initially for Leeds and Birmingham will be available for all other Local Authorities planning to introduce CAZs.

Clean Air Zones

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how the national vehicle checking platform being prepared by the Joint Air Quality Unit will enable the public to obtain information about vehicles’ real world emissions; and whether there are plans to use that information (a) as the basis for stricter emission limits for Clean Air Zones in the future and (b) to set a path towards a zero emission road network.

Rebecca Pow: To support charging clean air zones, we are developing an online tool for drivers to check if their vehicle would be subject to a charge for driving in areas where charging is necessary to achieve compliance with NO2 limits in the shortest time possible. There are no plans at present to extend this service for other emission limits or to use this for wider air quality purposes.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Cycling

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 9 September 2019 to Question 281681,  how much his Department has spent on schemes to encourage his staff to cycle to work since 2015; and how much his Department has spent on (a) installing bicycle racks and (b) bonus schemes for bicycle use in that time period.

George Eustice: Since 2015, Defra has not incurred spend on schemes to promote cycle to work, installation of bicycle racks or bonus schemes for bicycle use. However, we will shortly embark on a small works project to provide 30 cycle racks at Foss House in York, due for completion in September 2019, at a cost of £2,660.48 Defra promotes cycling to work and the associated environmental and wellbeing benefits. All Defra employees have access to the Government Cycle 2 Work scheme and have had opportunities to attend Bike Dr events and roadshows at over 60 Defra locations across the UK. Defra has seen an increase in take up of the scheme by 25% since 2015. Both the scheme and events are provided at no cost to Defra. Defra does not have any bonus schemes for bicycle use.

Forests: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what her Department's plan is for supporting new woodland establishment and tree planting during the transition period from the existing Countryside Stewardship scheme to the new Environmental Land Management Schemes being fully established by 2024.

George Eustice: We will ensure there is a smooth transition from the Countryside Stewardship scheme to the new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs). No one in an existing Countryside Stewardship agreement will be unfairly disadvantaged when we transition to new arrangements under the ELMs. New Countryside Stewardship agreements, including supporting new woodland creation, restocking and management, will continue to be available in the first few years of the agricultural transition period. Signing a Countryside Stewardship agreement provides a viable, long-term source of income for delivering environmental benefits. The Woodland Carbon Fund and the HS2 Woodland Fund are also currently open to new applications from farmers and landowners who can meet the criteria for funding. The ELMs will be open from the second half of 2024 and is founded on the principal of “public money for public goods”. It is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the Governments 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Public goods that ELMs will incentivise include: thriving plants and wildlife; protection from environmental hazards and mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. Activities to be paid for may include tree planting and woodland creation, and woodland management, including through natural regeneration.

Trees

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to enable the natural regeneration of trees and shrubs to support achieving the UK's 2050 net zero target.

Zac Goldsmith: Defra encourages the use of natural regeneration to maintain and create semi-natural woodland where possible on National Nature Reserves managed by Natural England. Natural regeneration can play a role in increasing tree cover to meet the net zero commitment, depending on the landscape and other objectives.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Department has to prioritise the role of agroecological farming systems including agroforestry in future farming and environmental payments.

George Eustice: Our Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme is the cornerstone of our new agricultural policy. Founded on the principle of “public money for public goods”, ELM is intended to provide a powerful vehicle for achieving the goals of the 25 Year Environment Plan and commitment to net zero carbon emissions, while supporting our rural economy. Land managers will be paid for delivering the following public goods set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan: clean air; clean and plentiful water; thriving plants and wildlife; protection from and mitigation of environmental hazards; beauty, heritage and engagement; mitigation of and adaptation to climate change. To the extent that agroecological farming systems enable the supply of such environmental benefits, they will be able to underpin multi-annual ELM agreements and the resulting payment stream.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps the Department is taking to encourage farmers to engage with the tests and trials phase of Environmental Land Management Scheme.

George Eustice: Applications for the second phase of Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMs) tests and trials closed earlier this year, and we received over 200 proposals. We are currently reviewing them against the priority gaps from Phase 1. In future, we will issue specific calls for proposals where appropriate to collect evidence that will help to inform policy development and any gaps we have identified within our tests and trials. In addition we are conducting a series of iterative workshops with several Countryside Stewardship Facilitation Fund (CSFF) groups to discuss land management plans and collaborative working. The purpose of our workshops with CSFF groups are to enable us to work directly with farmers and land managers to hear their thoughts, suggestions and ideas, rather than working through intermediary organisations as we often do with stakeholder proposals. We are using the workshops to help facilitate culture change and a new way of thinking about the environment, as well as providing information about ELM development to future users. We have completed two rounds of workshops and we are considering options for how we take these forward to ensure we get the most from the opportunity to engage with farmers and land managers through CSFF groups. We will be in touch with CSFF groups shortly on how we hope to take these forward, including feedback from the first two rounds of workshops.

Rural Development Programme

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department will maintain rural development funding for (a) community farms, (b) processing, (c) marketing and (d) local food should the UK leave the EU.

George Eustice: Our future policy will help farmers to continue to provide a supply of healthy, home-grown produce to high environmental and animal welfare standards. We will create an ambitious new system based on paying public money for public goods, which include improving air and water quality, and habitats for wildlife. During the transition to this new scheme, we will provide support for farmers to invest in equipment, technology, and infrastructure. This will help them to deliver public goods, improve their productivity and resilience, and put them in a strong position to take up offers through environmental land management. Our manifesto committed to establishing the UK Shared Prosperity Fund to reduce inequalities between communities by raising productivity, following departure from the EU. The fund will operate across the UK in urban and rural areas. We want to ensure that the fund works for rural businesses, communities and the environment, and the design of the fund will take into account the dynamics of rural economies and the particular challenges faced by rural communities. It is only right that we take final decisions about the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund after a cross-government Spending Review.

Food Supply

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment has been made of the ability of UK suppliers to meet demand for domestic food consumption in the event of trade disruptions arising from the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

George Eustice: The UK Government has well established ways of working with the food industry. The industry is experienced in dealing with scenarios that can affect food supply and Defra Ministers and officials meet with them regularly to support their contingency planning as we prepare to leave the EU. The UK’s high degree of food security is built on access to a range of sources including robust supply chains across a range of countries, in addition to strong domestic production. Consumers have access to a wide range of food products when they shop and this will continue once we leave the EU. If we have to leave with no deal, there will not be an overall shortage of food in the UK. While we are reliant on imports of certain salad vegetables at this time of year, our market profiles clearly demonstrate strong UK winter production of many root vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, swedes, turnips, parsnips and leeks.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Twitter

Tulip Siddiq: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much her Department has spent on promotion on Twitter in each month since January 2019; and which Twitter accounts had tweets promoted.

George Eustice: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has not spent any money on promotion on twitter from January 2019 to date.

Milk: Contracts

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the timescale is for the launch of the public consultation on milk supply contracts; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of mandatory contracts for milk supply contracts; and if she will make a statement.

George Eustice: The Government has made clear that it intends to introduce mandatory written contracts in the dairy sector and will consult on proposals after the UK leaves the EU.

Home Office

VFS Global: Contracts

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 2 July 2019 to Question 268421, if she will publish details of the Service Levels relating to the Next Generation Visa (NGOV) Services contract delivered by VFS Global.

Seema Kennedy: In line with the Government’s commitment to transparency, the Home Office has published the VFS Global Next Generation Visa (NGOV) contract schedules on Contracts Finder (part of gov.uk).https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/2c8f6f38-6f15-46ec-9954-c8571b0f1c05?p=@FQxUlRRPT0=NjJNT08=UThe Service Levels can be found in Schedule 7 of the contract. These Service Levels set out the criteria Home Office uses to assess the performance of VFS Global in handling visa and settlement applications

VFS Global: Contracts

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions she has had on whether to extend the contract for Next Generation Visa (NGOV) Services delivered by VFS Global beyond the current expiration date of 31 March 2021.

Seema Kennedy: The Home Department are currently in discussion with the suppliers who deliver the Next Generation Outsourced Visa (NGOV) contract to review proposals for an extension beyond 2021 but no recommendations have yet been made.

VFS Global: Complaints

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many complaints her Department has received about VSF Global each year since the start of its contract with her Department in 2013.

Seema Kennedy: The performance against service standard in relation to customer complaints relating to UKVI can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/customer-service-operations-data-august-2019. We do not publish statistics on complaints received in relation to individual supplier performance

Migrant Workers: Pay

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will reconsider the £30,000 salary threshold for immigrant workers.

Seema Kennedy: On 24 June 2019, the Government asked the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to consider the operation of salary thresholds in the future immigration system, including the impact of exemptions from minimum salary thresholds.The MAC is due to report by January 2020.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate she has made of the number of children of EU nationals living in the UK eligible for British citizenship.

Seema Kennedy: The specific information requested is not available.Since 1983 a child born in the UK will only be a British citizen if either parent is a British citizen or settled in the UK. For those born in the UK and overseas that do not acquire citizenship automatically at birth, there are registration provisions. Eligibility for each is largely determined by assessing the parents’ status on a case by case basis. This information is not captured in birth records.

Marriage Certificates: Mothers

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the timescale is for the new arrangements to register mothers' names on marriage records under the terms of the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 to come into effect.

Seema Kennedy: The General Register Office (GRO) is currently working on the secondary legislation, IT systems and administrative processes that are required to implement the marriage schedule system. An implementation timescale will be announced in due course.

Marriage Certificates

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what proposals she plans to bring forward under the Civil Partnerships, Marriages and Deaths (Registration Etc.) Act 2019 on the (a) method and (b) timetable for a new married couple to lodge a marriage schedule; and if he will make a statement.

Seema Kennedy: The detailed processes are under development and will be confirmed when a timescale for implementation is announced.

Cabinet Office

Toilet Paper

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how long supplies of toilet paper will last in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Simon Hart: The Government would prefer to leave the EU on 31 October with a deal. If this is not possible we will have to leave with no deal.In the event of no deal the Government will prioritise the flow of goods at the border while continuing to take a risk-based approach to controls and checks on goods to minimise additional friction.Extensive engagement activity continues with businesses, traders, ports and other stakeholders. The Government is also stepping up engagement with key Member States such as France. We will continue to work to make sure we have the best possible preparation to support the flow of goods.

Prorogation

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the length of prorogation required in order for the Government to prepare for a Queen's speech.

Kevin Foster: The Prime Minister intends to request that the current session of Parliament be prorogued from the evening of Tuesday 8 October, with a Queen’s Speech on Monday 14 October.These timings would mean Parliament is prorogued for the shortest time possible to enable all the necessary logistical preparations for a State Opening to be undertaken, including those done by the House Authorities.

Members: Correspondence

Ian Lavery: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, for what reasons the Government has not responded to the letter of the hon. Member for Kingston Upon Hull North dated the 1 August 2019 on compensation for victims of the contaminated blood scandal.

Oliver Dowden: As Minister for the Cabinet Office, I have Ministerial responsibility for the Infected Blood Inquiry. I replied to the letter from the hon. Member for Kingston Upon Hull on 30 September, and have apologised to her for the time taken to reply to her letter to the Prime Minister of 1 August.

Electronic Government: Proof of Identity

Eddie Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the effect of the withdrawal from the Verify scheme of service providers on people in (a) Walsall North constituency that have enrolled with that service and are required to re-enrol with another service provider.

Simon Hart: Under the current GOV.UK Verify contracts, no users will have to re-enroll with a different identity provider to create a new GOV.UK Verify account.

Local Government: Internet

Vicky Ford: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, what funding his Department has made available to (a) local authorities and (b) councils to comply with website content accessibility guidelines.

Simon Hart: The Government Digital Service (“GDS”) introduced and leads on implementation of the Public Sector (Websites and Mobile Applications) (No.2) Accessibility Regulations (“the Regulations”).GDS has been providing an ongoing range of guidance and awareness raising to public sector bodies, including local authorities on implementing the accessibility requirements, but is not responsible for funding to local authorities. Guidance can be located on our accessibility regulations campaign here https://accessibility.campaign.gov.uk/.

Government Departments: Energy Supply

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 24 September 2019 to Question 290332 on Department of Health and Social Care: Energy Supply, whether the criteria used by Crown Commercial Services to select an energy supplier for Government Departments and public bodies includes an assessment of the environmental policies of a supplier; and what recent steps Crown Commercial Services has taken to reduce CO2 emissions from energy use in the (a) supply of and (b) demand for energy.

Simon Hart: It is a requirement of Crown Commercial Services commercial arrangements that energy suppliers must comply with environmental policy, such as the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) and Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR).All Government Departments and public bodies can access commercial solutions managed by the Crown Commercial Service for advice, support and efficiency solutions that will drive savings through energy reduction and thereby reduce their CO2 emissions.

Cabinet Office: Ethnic Groups

Chris Stephens: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many and what proportion of staff who applied for promotion within his Department from 1 September 2018 to 1 September 2019 and who identified as (a) BAME and (b) white were successful by each grade in his Department.

Simon Hart: The information requested not routinely collected, and can only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Visas: EU Countries

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what assessment he has made of the merits of visa-free travel between the UK and the EU for short work visits after the UK leaves the EU.

James Duddridge: In a deal scenario, UK nationals and EU citizens will be able to travel to each others’ countries as now for the duration of an implementation period. We have said that we want to see visa-free arrangements for short term business visits as part of the future relationship, and will discuss how to facilitate the temporary mobility of self-employed professionals and employees providing services. The detail of this will be discussed in the next phase of negotiations.The EU has confirmed that it will grant UK nationals visa-free travel to the EU for short stays after exit, even in a no deal scenario. This includes travel for purposes such as attending business meetings. Member States may require a visa if UK nationals intend to work and so UK nationals planning to undertake paid work in the EU should check with the Embassy of the countries they plan to travel to for what kind of visa or permit, if any, they will need. Further information can also be found on the FCO’s country-specific travel pages and on our advice pages for UK businesses on gov.uk.On 5 September 2019, to provide certainty to businesses, HMG announced in a policy paper that in the event of a no deal exit, EU citizens coming to the UK will be able to visit and work as they do now (meaning they will not require a visa in advance of their arrival in the UK). The policy paper can be accessed at GOV.UK via this link.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/no-deal-immigration-arrangements-for-eu-citizens-moving-to-the-uk-after-brexit#future-immigration-system

Musicians: British Nationals Abroad

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what discussions he has had with his EU counterparts on work permits for British musicians living and working in the EU on 1 November 2019.

James Duddridge: The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union has regular discussions with EU counterparts regarding preparations for the UK’s departure from the European Union.Throughout this process the Government’s position has been clear; we want a positive future relationship that will support the growth of the creative industries in both the UK and the EU.For British musicians resident in the EU before exit day, all Member States have now set out unilateral offers for resident UK nationals in the event of a no deal, and have drafted or enacted relevant legislation, which has been summarised on the European Commission website:https://ec.europa.eu/info/brexit/brexit-preparedness/citizens-rights_enAfter exit, if the UK leaves the EU with a deal, the existing EU rules will continue during the implementation period. This would allow UK nationals and EU citizens to visit and work in each other's territories as they do now from exit day until the end of the implementation period.If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, UK nationals travelling to the EU to undertake paid work, including in the music industry, should check with the Embassy of the countries they plan to travel to for what kind of visa or permit, if any, they will need. Information about entry requirements for those intending to work or provide a service in an EU Member State is listed on our advice pages for UK businesses on gov.uk:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/providing-services-to-eea-and-efta-countries-after-eu-exit

Treasury

Roadchef: Employee Benefit Trusts

Dr David Drew: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he will direct the Chief Executive of HMRC to hold meetings with honourable Members with constituencies that (a) include and (b) are close to Roadchef Motorway Services on the (i) M5 and (ii) M6 on outstanding issues in the dispute between HMRC and the Roadchef Employee Benefits Trust.

Jesse Norman: The administration of the tax system is a matter for HM Revenue and Customs. It would not be appropriate for Treasury Ministers to become involved in the administration of the tax system in specific cases.

Beer: Excise Duties

Steve McCabe: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reducing duty on beer.

Mr Simon Clarke: All taxes are kept under review and the impact of a change to beer duty is considered at each fiscal event, including its effect on pubs and the wider economy.

Alcoholic Drinks and Tobacco: Import Duties

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether HM Treasury’s September 2019 publicity campaign on duty free cigarettes and alcohol for travellers to EU countries was subject to approval by Ministers in his Department.

Jesse Norman: This is Government policy and the announcement was subject to ministerial approval.

Free Zones: Employment

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of peer-reviewed research on the net effect of free ports and enterprise zone schemes on employment levels.

Jesse Norman: The Government will establish new freeports after the UK leaves the EU in order to drive growth, create high-skilled jobs and ensure towns and cities in the UK benefit from Brexit trade opportunities. The Government is considering a wide range of options to develop an ambitious and attractive policy on UK freeports, providing businesses with incentives that will attract investment and boost growth. Alongside this, Enterprise Zones continue to drive growth across the country in order to attract new investment into specific places.

Regional Planning and Development

Catherine McKinnell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to section 2.26 of the print version of the Spending Round 2019 document, whether additional funding will be made available to the (a) Northern Powerhouse and (b) Midlands Engine.

Mr Simon Clarke: Every place in the UK has a role to play in driving growth and we are committed to levelling up opportunities across towns, cities and communities across the country. As part of this, the recent Spending Round confirmed funding to extend a wide range of programmes into 2020/21, including for the Midlands Engine and the Northern Powerhouse.

Children: Day Care

Mr Damian Hinds: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) children and (b) families benefiting from tax-free childcare in each year since its inception in (a) East Hampshire constituency, (b) Hampshire local authority area and (c) England.

Jesse Norman: HMRC publish quarterly Official Statistics which includes a breakdown of families using Tax-Free Childcare by country and Government Office Region. The latest statistics were published in August 2019:  https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tax-free-childcare-statistics-june-2019 Using methodology consistent with the published statistics HMRC can calculate account usage at the local authority and parliamentary constituency level. Results for England, Hampshire Local Authority and East Hampshire Parliamentary Constituency are shown in the table below: Rounded to nearest 100.Users of Tax-Free Childcare2017-182018-19FamiliesChildrenFamiliesChildren England52,30064,600144,400181,200Hampshire Local Authority*1,6002,1004,4005,700East Hampshire Parliamentary Constituency100100300400 *Hampshire Local Authority figures are compiled from the following lower tier/district authorities: Basingstoke and DeaneEast HampshireEastleighFarehamGosportHartHavantNew ForestRushmoorTest ValleyWinchester

Low incomes: Food and Fuel

Maria Eagle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to mitigate for the effect of potential price rises in fuel and food for low-income families in the North West in the event the UK leaving the EU with no deal.

Rishi Sunak: The Government has been clear that should there be no deal, we would support the economy through whatever appropriate action is necessary. HM Treasury routinely monitors existing economic conditions and risks, and the Government has a range of mechanisms available to support vulnerable people from price rises.

Employment: Taxation

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the number of contracting roles that will be lost to the UK economy as a result of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules.

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on pay rates of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules.

Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) have been in place since 2000. They are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees pay broadly the same amount of tax and NICs, regardless of the structure they work through. They do not affect the self-employed. In 2017 the Government reformed the way the rules operate in the public sector in order to address widespread non-compliance. Evidence shows that compliance is improving, without reducing the flexibility of the labour market. Budget 2018 announced that the reform would be extended to all sectors, but not until April 2020, giving businesses more time to prepare. The Government has consulted extensively on the reform and HMRC are rolling out guidance as well as an education and support programme. On 11 July 2019, HMRC published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the costs to business and individuals of the reform. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.

Employment: Taxation

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the cost to UK business of the roll-out of the off-payroll rules to the private sector.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the number of contracting roles that will potentially be lost to the UK economy from the roll-out of the off-payroll rules.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the public sector of the off-payroll rules.

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on rates of pay of the off-payroll roll-out.

Jesse Norman: The off-payroll working rules (sometimes known as IR35) have been in place since 2000. They are designed to ensure that individuals working like employees pay broadly the same amount of tax and NICs, regardless of the structure they work through. They do not affect the self-employed. In 2017 the Government reformed the way the rules operate in the public sector in order to address widespread non-compliance. Evidence shows that compliance is improving, without reducing the flexibility of the labour market. Budget 2018 announced that the reform would be extended to all sectors, but not until April 2020, giving businesses more time to prepare. The Government has consulted extensively on the reform and HMRC are rolling out guidance as well as an education and support programme. On 11 July 2019, HMRC published a Tax Information and Impact Note setting out the costs to business and individuals of the reform. This can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020/rules-for-off-payroll-working-from-april-2020.

NHS: Apprentices

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how much funding the NHS has contributed to the Apprenticeship Levy since its introduction in 2017.

Jesse Norman: In 2016, the then Chancellor set out in a letter to the Treasury Select Committee an estimate of the impact of the Apprenticeship Levy on the NHS Hospital and Community Health Service in England. This was estimated to be around £190m in 2017-18. It is not possible to determine accurately the total annual value of levy payments made by all NHS trusts. This is because HMRC administrative data does not enable NHS trusts and their associated PAYE schemes to be readily identified.

Taxation: Self-assessment

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many enquiries have been conducted on the tax returns of self-assessment taxpayers excluding trusts, partnerships, charities in each financial year since 2008-09.

Jesse Norman: It is not possible to answer the question without incurring disproportionate costs in the time available. HMRC’s central reporting system does not hold the specific data required and therefore HMRC is unable to answer the question. In 2018-19, HMRC generated £34.1 billion in compliance yield against its target of £30 billion. The number of compliance cases concluded in each of the last three years are shown in the table below (rounded to the nearest 5K): Description2016/172017/182018/19Cases Closed580k475k390k

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if his Department has made an assessment of the potential benefits of reducing pools duty to 10 per cent to the industry and local economy in the North West.

Mr Simon Clarke: No assessment has been made. Cutting Pool Betting Duty to 10% is unlikely to increase usage of the football pools which has been in long term decline due to the popularity of other gambling products.

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will undertake a review of the effectiveness of the pools duty rate.

Jesse Norman: The Government has no current plans to review the rate of Pool Betting Duty. HM Treasury however keeps all taxes, including Pool Betting Duty, under active review.

Electronic Publishing: VAT

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to remove the VAT on all digital publications.

Jesse Norman: The Government keeps all taxes under review, including VAT. Any amendments to the VAT regime as it applies to physical publications and e-publications must be carefully assessed against policy, economic and fiscal considerations. Any representations on this issue will be considered as part of the fiscal events process.

Football Pools: Excise Duties

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to reduce the tax on the football pools to bring it in line with taxation rates applying to bingo.

Mr Simon Clarke: The Government has no current plans to reduce Pool Betting Duty. Reducing it to 10% is likely to have a negligible effect on the football pools, but could put revenue at risk particularly through incentivising switching of products from fixed odds bets to pooled bets. HM Treasury however keeps all taxes, including Pool Betting Duty, under active review.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate

Paul Farrelly: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, when responsibility for Bridge Street subway was transferred to the Parliamentary Estate; and what steps the Commission took to inform Members.

Tom Brake: Responsibility for the Bridge Street underpass was transferred to Parliament in May 2019. This followed its temporary closure to the public for health and safety reasons, in order to allow work to take place on the Elizabeth Tower renovation project.Members were advised of the changes to the management of the area via an email from the House of Commons Communications Team (part of a wider "Pre-Recess update for Members" message) on 22 May 2019. A news item was added to the intranet on the same day. A further update was added on 8 August 2019.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Government

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, what steps he is taking to restore the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Julian Smith: Restoring the Executive and the Assembly remains my absolute priority. It is my firm view that the people of Northern Ireland need their elected representatives back in Government to take important decisions on the issues that matter most to them. The parties remain engaged and are demonstrating a willingness to find solutions to the remaining critical issues; a renewed determination to find agreement will be needed if the process is to conclude in the coming weeks. I continue to encourage the parties to come together to work towards restoring devolved government.

Northern Ireland Office: Chief Scientific Advisers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many meetings he had with his Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser from 1 June to 31 August 2019.

Julian Smith: The Northern Ireland Office does not have a Departmental Chief Scientific Adviser.

Northern Ireland Office: Crispin Odey

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, if he will publish (a) the outcome of all meetings and (b) all call logs between Ministers of his Department and Mr Crispin Odey.

Julian Smith: Details of Ministers’ meetings are published quarterly in arrears on GOV.UK.

Women and Equalities

Mermaids UK: Finance

David T. C. Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether Government funding of Mermaids UK will be reviewed.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Equalities Office has not provided direct funding to Mermaids. Mermaids were allocated funding through the LGBT Consortium on the Anti-homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying programme 2016-2019 and this funding ceased at the end of the programme in March 2019. A separate extension to this programme was retendered from January 2019 to March 2020 and Mermaids did not receive any funding through this process.

Females: Public Appointments

Dawn Butler: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking, in addition the £5 million centenary fund, to ensure women and underrepresented groups are better represented in public life.

Victoria Atkins: Political parties are responsible for greater diversity amongst their candidates. The Government is working with them to better support their disabled candidates. Whilst this is ongoing we launched the £250,000 interim EnAble Fund. The fund supported around 40 disabled candidates in the local elections in May. We have commissioned an independent evaluation, which will include assessments of average grants made and will be published after the Fund has closed next year.The Centenary Fund supported nearly 320 projects including events encouraging nearly 800 women to stand for election, creating a pipeline of talent ready to enter public life.

Immigration: Windrush Generation

Ruth Jones: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what steps her Department is taking to support the Home Office in its internal investigation into the causes of the Windrush scandal.

Victoria Atkins: My Rt Hon. Friend the Home Secretary commissioned a lessons-learned review to consider the key policy and operational decisions that affected the Windrush generation and appointed Wendy Williams as its independent advisor. We understand that Wendy Williams has been considering a great deal of material during the course of the review and has spoken with a wide range of people. The government will publish her report following its receipt.

Churches: Equality

Tonia Antoniazzi: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what discussions the Government has had with the (a) Church of England, (b) Church in Wales and (c) Church of Scotland on those bodies' exemption from equality legislation in terms of (i) appointments and (ii) provision of services.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Equalities Office has recently held discussions with the Church of England, and written to the Church in Wales, about exemptions for hosting opposite-sex civil partnerships on religious premises. We have had no discussions with the Church of Scotland on this matter as the legislation covers England and Wales only.

Candidates: Disability

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans the Government has to encourage more candidates with disabilities to stand for elected office.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is working with disability organisations to help political parties better support disabled candidates. In December 2018, the Government launched the £250,000 EnAble Fund, which provides grants that cover disability-related expenses people might face when seeking elected office. We have commissioned an independent evaluation, which will include assessments of average grants made and will be published after the Fund has closed next year. Furthermore, my Honourable Friend the Minister for the Constitution, passed legislation to exclude disability-related expenses from candidates’ spending limits.

International Women's Day: Expenditure

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much the Government spent on celebrations for International Women's day in each year since 2015.

Victoria Atkins: I refer my Hon. Friend for Shipley to the answer I gave him today, UIN: 291337.

EnAble Fund for Elected Office

Cat Smith: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how many candidates have been supported through the EnAble Fund for Elected Office; how much of the £250,000 budget has been allocated; and what the average grant allocated is since the introduction of the scheme.

Victoria Atkins: The EnAble Fund for Elected Office is a £250,000 interim fund and is available until March 2020 or until the £250,000 budget is exhausted. The Fund supported around 40 candidates at May’s local elections. We have commissioned an independent evaluation, which will include assessments of average grants made and will be published after the Fund has closed next year.

International Women's Day

Philip Davies: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, how much the Government have spent on celebrations for International Women's day in each year since 2015.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Equalities Office does not collect or hold information regarding spend across government on International Women’s Day. It is for individual departments to decide if and how to celebrate this day.